Max Boot: A World of Crazy

Josh Marshall notes that Max Boot is “a key advisor and campaign surrogate” for John McCain, which I suppose means that Victor Davis Hanson’s vote has been secured at last. Meantime, Marshall is wondering about all the “completely insane things” Boot has said or written over the years. Since I don’t know what Boot ordered for breakfast yesterday, I’m prepared to say that the answer to Marshall’s question is not necessarily “Everything.”

I would, however, suggest that Boot’s call for the US to arm Stalinist militias in Iran would probably qualify as talking-to-the-squirrels crazy.

. . . this, while qualifying as generic, jingoistic cheerleading, is also self-evidently mad:

Once Afghanistan has been dealt with, America should turn its attention to Iraq. It will probably not be possible to remove Saddam quickly without a U.S. invasion and occupation–though it will hardly require half a million men, since Saddam’s army is much diminished since the Gulf War, and we will probably have plenty of help from Iraqis, once they trust that we intend to finish the job this time. Once we have deposed Saddam, we can impose an American-led, international regency in Baghdad, to go along with the one in Kabul. With American seriousness and credibility thus restored, we will enjoy fruitful cooperation from the region’s many opportunists, who will show a newfound eagerness to be helpful in our larger task of rolling up the international terror network that threatens us.

…and this isn’t insane so much as it supplies additional weight to the argument that “conservative humor” is mere legend, like the chupacabra, the unicorn, or “Hillary Supporters for McCain.”