A few days ago a reader sent me a thoughtful email pointing out the numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations in this piece by Eric Margolis, and suggested I take it on.
I’m sorry. I don’t “do” Margolis.
I don’t own a backhoe,
(Though, reader Mark Collins punts one of his assertions (and spanks Lawrence Martin for repeating it) in this readers tips thread – and “Karl” has now reposted his original email in the comments of this one.)
I had a chat with Margolis a few weeks ago at a reception. Terrible breath. I think his brain is rotten.
Hi all,
Assuming that I am the reader Kate referred to, I thought I would post my email rant below:
To: my favourite spot in blogdom, SDA:
Dear Kate,
I came across this while doing my morning surf. After I cleaned the vomit off my keyboard, and reassembled my office I wrote the following letter to the editor.
“I am glad to see that Eric Margolis acknowledge that 10,000,000 abortions of female fetuses in India is morally equivalent to the public execution of women in Afghani soccer stadiums. I never would have guessed him to be a pro-lifer. Unless of course he is a pro-choicer who is suggesting that the Taliban’s history of executing women is much ado about nothing. Hmmm…. Just what are you trying to say anyway Eric?? Oh wait, I get it. “Canadians are idiots for supporting our troops.” Got it. Well, I may be an idiot, but at least I am not a “Useful Idiot”.”
However, a monumentous piece of drivel such as his editorial is deserves a wider readership, and some commentary. Let’s see, where to start…..
“As Canadian casualties mount in Afghanistan…” Mount!!???? 12 killed constitutes “mounting casulaties”? Or is it the case that Margolis was circling the battlefield like a vulture, and has now alighted upon the body of Pte. Robert Costall, so as to use him to feed his ego, and make his inept point.
“The Taliban�s leaders knew nothing of 9/11…” How does he know this to be true? Where is the evidence?
“Most of the so-called �terrorist camps� in Afghanistan were in fact bases used by Muslim volunteers who had come to fight Communists there and in Central Asia.”
Lets see if I get this: Armed men from Chechnya and Saudi Arabia occupying armed camps with the approval of the (Taliban) government are Muslim volunteers, but Canadians and Americans doing the same things at the behest of the (Northern Alliance) government are invaders, and occupying forces.
However, most laughable (or pitiful) is this bit of malodorous tripe:
�Canada is defending women�s rights.� Laughable nonsense. The Taliban, demonized by western propaganda, mistreated its females no worse than other Afghans. Women are mistreated across South Asia. In India, brides are burned and people hanged for marrying below their caste. An estimated 10 million female fetuses were aborted in India since 1985, according to the leading medical journal Lancet.
This hamhanded attempt to establish some sort of moral equivalence between the brutal treatment of women by the Taliban and the equally brutal mistreatment of women in other parts of the world is a pitiful attempt to make the claim that the west is hypocritically selective about who it helps and who it doesn’t. Well, no s**t Sherlock!! The whole world is hypocritical. Deal with it!! Underlying this however is a disturbing truth. Given his opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan, Eric Margolis does not believe that force should ever be used by outsiders to end the oppression and murder of women by a misogynistic regime!! That we do nothing to help the plight of other oppressed women in South Asia is a fact that adds to our shame!! To use this fact as a justification for criticising action where it has been taken, and where the plight of oppressed women has consequently been improved shows Margolis to be one of the “Useful Idiots” spoken of by Stalin.
Anyway, I hope that you will give this story some exposure.
Karl
Just read his column. I don’t think he gets it. He has bought into the plausible deniability doctrine. How can he argue the Taliban were innocent dupes of Bin Landen, when they practice exactly the same perversion of Islam, with the same military tactics and goals? We all know the UN sponsored their elections, yet he offers no proof that they were rigged by anyone. Another thing Mr Margolis doesn’t seem to understand, is that, while all of us are free to express our views, those like his (agree or disagree) are used to sow seeds of doubt by our enemy (yes we have one), to drive a wedge between our free societies and their leadership. He has every right to express his views, and I have every right to argue they are naive.
The Toronto Sun has been a long time big time supporter of conservative politics. Just go into their archives and find out for yourselves.
If I were less of a man I would somehow spin this Margoils nonsense into an evil conservative plot.
The Sun as well as other places is sold off of coffee trucks and known for it’s yellow journalism appeal to blue collar types.
Its articles are nothing more than dramatized crap masquerading as news.
I’m with Kate on this one. Margolis has been spewing tooo much bull feces for years to be taken seriously.
Mark Steyn use to laugh at his “cruel Afgan winters” and ” Afgan quaqmire” routine as far back as 2001/2.
Gwynne Dyer fits in the same commode.
When the Sun newspaper chain started in the 80’s Margolis was one of their reporters that wrote against the Soviet Empire, and thus fit in quite well with the other reporters such as Worthington.
Of course we can see how low he has sunk in stature the last decade.
Fortunately, the Sun still is the best right of centre newspaper and far better than their competition The Star or the G & M.
Dr. Wayne – no, you are quite wrong about the Sun.
It has a number of good journalists. For example, there’s Salim Mansur, a professor of Political Science at UWO – who loathes Margolis. Mansur writes informed, data based, analyses of the ME. He’s a strong supporter of Bush and the Iraq War, and against Islamofascism.
It has other journalists who are classical liberalists – NOT Liberals (who are socialists) – and who promote Harper and his decentralization etc.
Remember, the Toronto Star has such ignoramus as Haroon Siddiqui and (I rarely read newspapers); the G&M has J. Simpson who seems to be stuffed and preserved from the 1950s..and so on.
Eric Margolis is a monumentally ignorant and prejudiced individual. Most ‘decent’ journalists ignore him.
Margolis’ “credibility” on military affairs is to a large extent based on his voluntary service in the US Army at the time of the Vietnam war (note he doesn’t say he actually served there).
http://www.bigeye.com/093002.htm
This is like giving credibility to Hitler’s views based on his voluntary front-line service in WW I (and he actually did serve at the front; I doubt that Margolis did).
Mark
Ottawa
Once a regular, Margolis can’t even get on TVO’s loaded-to-the-gills-with lefties Studio 2/Diplomatic Immunity anymore. Anyone know what happened?
Mississauga Matt: Actually TVO is loaded with what I would call centrists. The CBC and CTV have the lefties.
Steve Paikin is the best MSM TV journalist in the country. And Gilles Paquet on the Thursday Studio 2 panel is probably the most level-headed and intelligently (note that word) cynical TV commentator.
But you may beg to differ.
Mark
Ottawa
ET is quite correct about Margolis. His reasoning and woeful lack of research suggests Margolis is writing at best as a humorist and at worst as a fool. It is usually within the first two paragraphs that one realizes Margolis cannot be regarded with any bit of credibility.
However, someone has given this man a keyboard, computer, and a media (along with some recompense) to publish his disjointed views. I tend to see The Sun as providing a public service to the reading public in doing so exposing in turn the thought processes of the ilk that Margolis’s writing represents. This way rational, well read, and objective readers are better forewarned and forearmed of the misrepresentations deceptive writers and thinkers like Margolis are trying to convey to an unsuspecting public. (That’s my lesser man’s blue collar conservative spin to the reasoning behind The Sun for publish Margolis’s work, Dr. Wayne. I don’t mind traveling down that road. Eric certainly doesn’t. Fortunately he is walking the other way.)
I agree with Kate. I don’t “do” Margolis just like I don’t “do” the CBC. There is so much bias that it is irritation, not information. Why raise my blood pressure? I read the Calgary Sun and enjoy it but never read Margolis. I agree with someone else here that said it was a conservative conspiracy. Margolis opinions are so outrageous, it really points out the idiocy of the extreme left
No, I think you’re right about Paikin and Paquet, Mark.
But there’s always Patrick Martin, Susan Riley, the thankfully gone but not forgotten Susan “no shoulders” Murray, Paula todd herself …
I sent Paiken a few emails years ago, and he was good enough to write return letters to me. He’s a pretty smart cookie and he handles the guests and the show like no one else can.
Mississauga Matt: I think Paula has become much more reasonable and informed over the years (remember she did come from the Red Star and went to law school); pity about those short leather skirts though.
Mark
Ottawa
Margolis is the token lefty clown in an otherwise fairly right wing paper. Probably there for ‘balance’ I guess. He states 911 was hatched in Germany. Where does he think they were trained?
I’m not sure what all of the fuss is about. I just googled images of ‘Margolis’ and, well… she looks just fine to me. 8~)
I agree – that TVO is more centrist than left. It’s still wavers a bit more on the left than the right…But – at least it’s not the CBC, which is a Liberal propaganda machine.
Global, I recall, once informed its viewers that a ‘poll’ had revealed that most Canadians thought the US was a ‘rogue nation’. I went ballistic on that, and wrote all kinds of nasty letters about the nature of polls and leading questions.. They phoned me, rather worried (I had sent copies to umpteen officialdom)…
In the international discussions on TVO, there’s Patrick Martin of the G&M, who, I think, replaced Eric Margolis; he’s too anti-Bush. Richard Gwyn – is good, but..part of the old Trudeau scene. Janice Stein I respect..but..still, it would be great to have a Steyn or Michelle Malkin or..
But, then there’s Gilles Paquet – a monument of clarity, extensive and deep knowledge and wisdom. There’s no-body to match him, in wisdom – and courtesy. His words and writings are similar to what Harper is working on – that focus on decentralization.
I wish someone who silence Susan Riley; – a typical ignorant leftist. She always makes me understand the Desire To Murder.
John Ibbitson, well, I think Mark Collins has summed him up, if I remember correctly as an ‘escapee from Gravenhurst’.
At any rate – I think I saw the Final Straw re Eric Margolis on TVO. It was the usual session, with Richard Gwyn and Janice Stein. Then, Eric started on about how the British in India, had ‘stuffed people into cannons’..and..blown them up..It was part of his The West is Evil rant. Richard exploded as much as Richard can explode; Janice was silent (shocked)..and..that was the end of Eric. He never returned. Not a word was said. Patrick Martin took his place.
Someone told me that Eric Margolis runs a very profitable set of restaurants. ???
ET,
Thanks for the clarification, I know there are many good journalists around and I shouldn’t lump them all together.
However, I still don’t like The Sun because of its bias and the way it dramatizes news. Media outlets should report the way it is not the way they see it. Sigh, but that would be a perfect world.
Dr.W:
You don’t like the bias of the Sun? How about the bias of the CBC, CTV, CNN, the Herald, Toronto Star, etc etc. All extremely liberal/socialist/leftist. You have so much other media to choose from! Get over it.
Not a fan of Margolis myself, but I would suggest to almost all of you that obtaining your “news” only from sources who agree with you ideologically (and therefore are not sources of actual news) is an extremely poor way to become well-informed with respect to any issue.
Compounding the error by endlessly ranting to the like-minded in narrow little false-realities like the right-wing blogosphere (or the left one for that matter) only serves to create further distance between you and truth.
Broaden your horizons and read a multiplicity of sources from around the world (bbc, CS monitor, Herald Tribune, Economist, etc…) and then actually think it through without partisan/ideological blinders on.
You might be surprised.
Actually, Margolis is doing a great job. Every newspaper chain in Canada keeps a few lunatics on staff to write crap, stir up contraversey and keep the readership entertained.
Margolis, Zerbisias, Mallick etc etc etc….. They have licence to print whatever deranged garbage their fevered little minds can come up with as long as the letters of complaint keep coming in to the editors. Contraversy sells.
Lanny,
That’s why I sighed, it’s all biased, if it isn’t leftist crap it’s high and mighty rightist postulation.
There, now I’m over it.
Buckahed….you deserve the last word for that beautiful and succinct comment!
But I’m going to be a selfish p***k and add my twobits!
First I’ve never been a sunpub fan but Canoe was one of my first online sources for news. I’ve been sucked into reading the Likes of Margolis and the Zerb etc. many times and one consistent thing is that their commentary is blatant anti conservatism and often conveniently free of facts that don’t support their POV.
This particular post is a fine example of that with many assertions that are partly true but with a number of very false assumptions and claims that are never going to be substantiated.
On the whole not an argument that supports a critical analysis but a prop for a POV that has already been firmly discredited.
Not journalism – just the opinion of the feeble and morally bereft.
Margolis married Arab, he’s gotta justify now.
Canadian2:
Of course you are right that one should look to various sources for the news. Myself, I occasionally watch BBC world news, CBC (more faithfully), CTV, Global, (very Occasionally) CNN, and (even more occasionally) Fox. I read the columnists in the Sun media chain faithfully, and try to keep up with Andrew Coyne, Warren Kinsella, Steven Taylor, Angry, and Kate. Now and then (in the doctor’s or dentist’s waiting room) I will read MacLeans. I also occasionally read the Grope and Flail, and more often the National Post.
I remember pre 9-11 when the left wing media was making so much noise about the oppression of women under the Taliban, and how the western powers were bad because they were indifferent to their plight. Now it seems the tue has changed for some of them.
I read Margolis quite faithfully through the initial post 9-11 period. He has gotten loopier and loopier, seemingly agitated that the slaughter of US forces he predicted has not come to pass. Now he has taken to shamelessly spinning the Taliban into nobel freedom fighters who are no worse toward women than others in India and elsewhere. But he fails to note an important distinction, namely that women enjoy equal protection under the law in India (and I think in Pakistan), while under the Taliban they had their rights taken away.
It seems to me that the underlying agenda with much of the media on the left is to show that their doom and gloom predictions were actually true, and that their anti-Bush sentiments were accurate assesments of his abilities rather than attempts to assasinate his character.
To what lengths will these people go to say “See! I was right all along!!” Painting the Taliban as misunderstood freedom fighters? Excusing soccer stadium executions as not all that unusual within the cultural context, and therefore by extension not as evil as they seem? Margolis is showing himself for a fool. At this rate he will soon be claiming that the war on terror was orchestrated by the second gunman, from his secret command post atop the grassy knoll.
You all seem to have forgotten that the USinstalled the Taliban after they and bin Laden fought with them to remove the Russians from Afghanistan. Just as with Hussein, they are US bum boys until they don’t follow orders!
Margolis is an expert on the ME. You would be smart to listen to him–
Eric Margolis Has since the second last American electon. Gone absolutly dotty in the head. He just cannnot get over Bush being President . This continuation of Republican ideals in the States has led to a beak down.
A one time he did report facts. Now its all conspiracy driven angst. The Sun defends him as having some fans. While I understand the Sun’s drive for a broader spectrum of opinion.
A guy living in Switzerland, who has become an Eurabaist of record.He’s there candy man when it comes to disemilating propaganda for these radial nuts. He has many ties in the Islamofacist communities. I have noticed a drift to Anti Semitism as he becomes more affliated with Jihadist beliefs.
Frankly he has become like Bagdad Bob . A carcature of misinformation & inanities.
A guy who thinks the West should die out in earnest.I would not be surprised if he’s become a devotee of the “Religion of Peace”.
have you stopped taking you medicine, George.
Subject: Liberals NOT democratic !!!
Author:
Belinda claims…!!!
“On CBC Politics, Belinda said that one reason she didn’t run is because the leadership convention is not one person one vote … and that is not grassroots democracy in the Liberal party. She obviously was facing an organized opposition to her candidacy from the riding executive level, and to overcome that she would have to stack the party with more Belinda-friendly members.”
More here:
http://www.voy.com/178771/11441.html
I’m with George
Not only is Eric Margolis a ME expert, his is on the cutting edge when it comes to changes in that area.
For example, on June 3 2005 he described al-Qaida as “tiny, isolated al-Qaida”. A week latter, on June 10 2005, he describes them as “a hydra-headed transnational movement whose power and danger is growing.”
Obviously they had a good week.
And Eric was the only journalist to let us know about this epic transformation.
Of course, the fact that each description was used to show the utter incompetence of the Bush Administration had nothing to do with this dramatic change.
“Remember the “Brutal Afghan Winter”?
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/02/remember-brutal-afghan-winter.html
Mark
Ottawa
Ward (Eichmann) Churchill meet Eric (Mengeles) Margolis. +
“Margolis has also circulated rumors accusing Israel of manufacturing biological weapons that are specifically designed to attack the cells of victims with �distinctive Arab genes.� According to a November 1998 Margolis article, �Does Israel Have Smart Germs?� Israel was developing this hideous weapon in the Nes Ziona [sic] plant outside of Tel Aviv with the full compliance of �at least one of Israel�s world-renowned scientific Institutes.� Margolis reported that the �smart germs� were obtained by Israel from South Africa�s Afrikaner government, with additional biological warfare technology supplied by �migr� Russian scientists. Margolis even called Israeli scientists �little Dr Mengeles.� +
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17961
(post re BS posted above in error)
Hey ET!
I missed the Studio D’Oh episode when Margolis wrote his exit script. It must have been a sight to see. He was getting a bit goofy (his friendship with Osama and friends in all kinds of high places). I often thought Janice Stein was going to assassinate him on live TV!
As for Paquet, he was a prof of mine at Carleton back in the day. I found him to be one of the most erudite people I’ve ver encountered. And, I always enjoy his observations on Thursday evenings.
Margolis is to the Toronto Sun what Paul Jackson is to the Calgary Sun. Every goofy tabloid needs an asshole for a columnist.
Andy
HOLY F**K is THAT ever stupid!
Maz posted that Margolis said “”Margolis has also circulated rumors accusing Israel of manufacturing biological weapons that are specifically designed to attack the cells of victims with �distinctive Arab genes.� ” I see they can breed pathogens that can attack distinctively Arabic cells (whatever they are) and get they CANNOT breed pathogens that could selectively attack cancer cells. Thanks for posting that Maz. I didn’t know Margolis was THAT crazy.
This is a heartining article.
IT shows some show people are not all bonkers.
Are willing to champion obscure causes of Justice that are Muslim. I think where gonna here more about this young Women in the future.
Her siter is worth going too just to listen to her tunes. Story:
http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/qa200604060620.asp
Her site:
Nazanin: http://www.nazanin.ca or http://www.myspace.com/nazaninmusic.
George,
For your information, the US never installed the Taliban. As soon as the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan, the Americans soon followed. The Taliban, who appeared after the Russians (and Americans) had left, were actually the creation of Pakistan�s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISID), not the US. The ISID had various reasons for supporting the Taliban, including destabilizing Afghanistan and using Arab fighters with the Taliban as proxy fighters against the Indians in Kashmir. For more information on the formation of the Taliban and its ties to the ISID, you can check out these two sites:
http://www.afsa.org/fsj/Dec01/schiff.cfm
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/misc/janes011001_1_n.shtml
As for Mr. Margolis and his claims, I have a couple of comments. First off, I have read his columns for a good many years and at one time actually considered him to be a well-informed journalist who knew what he was talking about. However, as the years went by and I started expanding my horizons, I soon realized that he was as not as well informed as I had first assumed and his statements had to be taken with a grain of salt. A recent example is his statement about the US funding the Taliban which is false (see above links). As someone who has traveled in the Afghan-Pakistani area he should know this, but he makes no mention of it. In the same article he states that the US were going to use Osama bin Laden and his followers to destabilize Central Asia and China. I�m not an expert on Central Asia, but this is the first time I�ve ever heard of anything like this. This leads me into my next comment; the habit of Mr. Margolis making outlandish, uncorroborated statements! No mention of sources or where he got the information from, in other words, nothing too back-up his story up. Lets face it, if you were a newspaper reporter and you tried to file a story with no substantiation, the editor would rake you over the coals!! My final remark is this – he�s a lousy writer. How he got to be a senior correspondent with one the largest news chains in Canada is beyond me! His articles are disjointed; he jumps around from one subject to another which is detracting. In reality, his articles are nothing more than a bunch of statements, with no facts to back them or to tie them together!!
OK, I�ve vented my spleen. �Enuff said!
The only inaccuracies here are the ones that clumsily try to smear Margolis. He has his facts right, as usual.
didn’t the British put an end to the practice of Indian widows being forced to jump on the burning pyre of their dead husband (suttee)?
didn’t I recently read in a Mark Steyn article a quote from a British officer (back in the day before the British doubted the worth of their culture), saying something like “it may be your custom to kill women in this manner, but it is our custom to sentence to death anyone who murders another.” something like that.
I try not read Margolis – its like watching a family member behave dangerously stupid – he is the epitome of a self-loathing Jew – “look I hate me too”.
Nice rant LJ. I was musing about where the Taliban came from after George made his comment. Thanks for the info.
L.J. Brooks, you shouldn’t bother to educate the America-root of all evil crowd. I just read there is a significant intellectual following from ME studies programs that argue that, it is not that ME governments are corrupt, authoritarian, cruel and militaristic, the problem is that the West is racist. The only way they can justify the abominable conduct of these governments is to blame it on Bush. So, the evil Taliban was “installed” (what nonsense) and was armed (apparently with AK-47s) by them too. This reminds me of the anti-West demonstrations in the 70s; you know the ones sponsored by groups that were infiltrated by Soviet intelligence. Lenin called these types “useful idiots.” They are, unwittingly or otherwise, giving propaganda material to Islamofascists who wish to first enslave Muslims and then the rest of us. Thank God they have no chance of succeeding, despite the Margolis types in the world.
I checked the archives on his website and nowhere do I see HIM warning the Canadian public about the supposed misadventure in Afghanistan going all the way back to 2004.