You may have heard that the other day George W. Bush denounced the Yalta pact--which, Brad DeLong summed up, I think not unfairly, thus: "George W. Bush blames Winston Churchill (and Franklin Roosevelt) for not starting World War III in central Europe in July 1945." Yesterday Kevin Drum asked why Bush brought up Yalta at all; who was the audience for this remark? Today he cites some answers, in terms of Yalta's status as a buzzword for Cold War right.
But I think there's an answer nearer to hand. Here's the key quote:
We will not repeat the mistakes of other generations -- appeasing or excusing tyranny, and sacrificing freedom in the vain pursuit of stability.
He's just going on about Iraq again. Same ol' buzzwords, and the fact that the context was inappropriate (and the history is dubious) really doesn't matter.
Posted by Matt Weiner at May 11, 2005 12:24 PM