Iraq's Summer Soldiers.

• Author: Cheng, Stephen
• Position: Letters - Letter to the Editor

Tim Cavanaugh ("Iraq's Summer Soldiers," January) notes the liberal hawks' supposed hypocrisy in blaming President George W. Bush for mismanaging the postwar situation. This charge is spurious: To acknowledge the neglect or betrayal of an ideal is not to be hypocritical but to be honest.

That the occupation has not fared well should mean that intellectuals and writers such as Christopher Hitchens and Paul Berman take a critical stance. The prospects of a free Iraq, and a free Middle East, depend on the success of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Administrative incompetence therefore cannot be tolerated.

Stephen Cheng

Valley Stream, NY

Tim Cavanaugh replies...