Neocons are Liberals

The American Conservative Union has an article, "Neocons March Left", attacking neoconservatism from the "paleoconservative" position. The thrust of the article is that neoconservatism has more in common with the left than the traditional right. This is a position that I happen to agree with--neoconservatism's roots are in a dissident wing of the Democratic Party, and their relationship with the Republican Party has been one of convenience, not always ideological affinity.

Our war against Iraq created political alliances domestically that may have been unnatural, and which now may be falling apart. Specifically, some moderate-to-liberal hawks temporarily rose to the forefront of the American right and started calling the shots--in some cases declaring who was and who wasn't fit to be part of the conservative movement.

But it is only in these post-war days (although many object to the claim that the war is over) that the real clarifying happens.

Many of these hawks, called neocons, spent the aftermath of 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq war denouncing the conservatives who voiced opposition to Bush's planned wars. But now, after the war, with some of the dust settled, their differences with the right are becoming clearer, and their continued alliance with conservatives comes into question.

In support, the article cites David Frum's pro-choice position, William Kristol's recent statement that he supported John Kerry's argument that what we need to win the war in Iraq is more troops, Max Boot's op-ed piece that argued that the right should give up fighting against gay marriage, and Charles Krauthammer's justification for going to war as being based on humanitarian, rather than self-defence, grounds.

The heroes of the neocon ideology, the article reminds us, are the great Democrat presidents of the twentieth century: Wilson, FDR and Truman. As the conservatives themselves recognise, "the neocons--and they admit this--are hawks first, and Republicans or conservatives second."

I agree--I am a liberal hawk, and as soon as the rest of the rest of the neocons start realising that they have more in common with the Democrats (especially on social issues), the better.