Paul Johnson puntualitza

Paul Johnson: Why Millions Say, Softly, God Bless America

The worst example is Spain. On the eve of elections there, terrorists detonated bombs on trains in Madrid, panicking the nation. In a spasm of fear the Spanish — not normally lacking in courage — voted in a Socialist government. The new government took the coward’s way out and withdrew its troops from Iraq.

The intellectuals wanted the Iraqi elections to be defeated by terror. But now that the elections have actually taken place, they want the new government to fail. They want democracy to fail in Afghanistan as well so that they can smile smugly and say, “We told you so.” For if democracy were to triumph everywhere, what role would there be for the intellectual critic? As Shakespeare put it, “Othello’s occupation’s gone.”