Hyenas vs. Rhinos: Who could the NYT get to write an Op-ed on Iraq? Hmm…

http://www.juancole.com/2014/06/hyenas-rhinos-write.html

Hyenas vs. Rhinos: Who could the NYT get to write an Op-ed on Iraq? Hmm…
By Juan Cole | Jun. 30, 2014

New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan did a quick study and found that critics of the paper of record over its preference for Iraq War hawks as sources and commentators in the past two weeks are justified in their feeling that Iraq War critics have been slighted. This lack of balance grates in part because in 2002-2003 then editor in chief Bill Keller showed himself gullible in swallowing the lies of the Bush war machine, e.g. hyping aluminum tubing that could not in fact be used for nuclear centrifuges and committing other elementary errors that could have been avoided by simply checking with the IAEA and other real experts.

By the way, we need to put away this “hawk” versus “dove” imagery. Who wants to be a “dove”? How about we replace it with “hyena” vs. “rhino”? Hyenas attack the weak and eat carrion; rhinos are peaceful vegetarians unless you rile them up, when they are good at defending themselves

So here is a list of people that the NYT could ask to write op-eds on the current crisis who might not buy into the inside-the-Beltway perennial conviction that “We can fix this, we must intervene, preferably militarily!”

1. Brent Scowcroft, George H.W. Bush’s National Security Advisor, who warned in an op-ed in August of 2002 against the building war against Iraq. He is 89, and still speaking publicly.