The name of the game

http://www.jewishworldreview.com | Alger Hiss came to mind when I read a recent op-ed by Flynt Leverett in The New York Times. Which is not to say that Leverett is a pinko; if he has any color at all, it is yellow.

Flynt is identified in the blurb as the former senior director for Middle Eastern affairs at the National Security Council and currently a senior fellow at Brookings Institution's center for Middle East policy. The adjectival recurrence of "senior" should tell you all that you need to know. Well, almost all: the rest is in the next sentence. It says that his forthcoming book is entitled "Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial By Fire". Why do I get the feeling from the title that Bashar Assad will break out a magnum of champagne to greet this opus?

His essay in the Times begins with sophistry, segues into duplicity and climaxes in perfidy. After mentioning that the Administration has taken a stand and called upon Syria to restore Lebanon from suzerainty back to sovereignty, he offers this staggering paragraph:

‘Administration hawks like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (who, as President Reagan's Middle East envoy, oversaw the collapse of America's foray into Lebanon's civil war) and the National Security Council's Elliott Abrams (whose previous involvement in Lebanon policy helped generate the Iran-contra scandal) believe that such a course would allow the establishment of a pro-Western government in Beirut that would accommodate Israel and help to project American influence. They also believe that it would set the stage for the Syrian regime's collapse, removing another Baathist "rogue state."’

First of all, Rumsfeld was the Middle East envoy for one quick trip after the retirement of Philip Habib, and he famously returned and said he wanted no part of that mess. Secondly, Abrams was trying to encourage Iran to pressure their Lebanese client, Hezbollah, to release American hostages. That is hardly a reflection on his grasp of broader geopolitical directions in Lebanon policy. Thirdly, most importantly, nobody is quoted here saying that it would set the stage for the Syrian regime's collapse — because nobody has indicated any such thing. Leverett is employing a despicable tactic in feathering an unstated "belief" onto two policymakers whom he has first succeeded in tarring.

He proceeds to warn against this "risky maximalist" course. Instead we should take little baby steps. Shuffle the Syrian soldiers out, but slowly, ever so slowly. Mustn't rile the stability. Have somewhat more open elections in Lebanon, but timidly, ever so timidly. Press Syria to help less the Iraqi insurgents, but gently, ever so gently. And if we really want to send shock waves through the system, then he offers a "badly-needed stick" with which to threaten Assad: Security Council action!!! Plus, he hastens to add, we "should not be afraid to spell out for Mr. Assad the carrots" that he can get for being a good boy.

Yep, it always seemed to me that the subtext of the battle of Whittaker Chambers vs. Alger Hiss was the fact that both had those classic American names. These were the cognomina of royalty in this country; they resonated with the quality of the born leader, our equivalent of the coat-of-arms. Some strange primordial guilt seemed to have overtaken them, convinced them that the country they built had some incurable rot at its core. Chambers and Hiss were hissing to each other in secret chambers to undermine the foundations of this nation that they saw as desperately corrupt. Somehow Chambers pulled out of this neurosis in time to stanch some of the flow of lifeblood out of our polity.

But the title "Hiss-y" fits many such folks into our own day. We have not trusted a President with a name like that since Lyndon Johnson; it has been Dick and Gerry and Jimmy and Ronnie and George and Bill and George. When we hear names like Strobe Talbott and Erskine Bowles and Flynt Leverett, they are too often the captions under a droning voice of appeasement explaining why George is biting off more pretzel than he can chew.

The fact is that Iraq is making startling progress to democracy, as the Times Editorial page acknowledged the day before. Egypt agreed to hold an election between two parties (although they first jailed the strongest opponent). The Palestinians had a fairly fair election. Lebanese citizens shouted down their quisling puppet government after the assassination of Hariri. A kind of Berlin Wall momentum has built up, and we don't need blue-bloods turning yellow. The Bush Administration has exercised perfect timing — and, yes, assertive timing — in helping the snowball gain speed as it rolls down the hill.

In closing, two thoughts. One, wear those names proudly and confidently: thank G-d for Hadley Arkes. Two, it's time for these "senior" wonks to stop winking at brutes like Bashar. In fact, I was so enraged reading Leverett that I could not spit out the full name of Assad; the last two letters were inaudible.

JWR contributor Jay D. Homnick is the author of many books and essays on Jewish political and religious affairs. Comment by clicking here.

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