The Crawford Conundrum

Say what you will about Michael Lind, at least he's never predictable. That is, of course, unless your prediction is that he's once again trying to find a way to disagree with everyone else.

Lind first made a splash in 1996 with The Next American Nation, a strident assault on both multiculturalism and its elitist opponents alike. Three years later, in his descriptively titled Vietnam: The Necessary War, Lind chided those across the spectrum who try to "heal the wounds" of a war the author revises as a "justified" attempt to "preserve the military and diplomatic credibility of the United States in the Cold War."

Before you peg Lind as a reflexive hawk, however, do consider his latest target: the influence of the pro-Israel lobby over US foreign policy. How many apologists for Lyndon Johnson's war wage blistering assaults on Ariel Sharon's relentless expansionism? Very few, although that's probably because, except for Lind, there are almost no fans of LBJ's foreign policy left.

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