Paul Craig Roberts Responds to Article Calling Him Pro-War

I was alerted by Antiwar.com on Sunday morning May 23 that I was seriously misquoted in an article in the Alameda Times-Star by Byron Williams, described as “an Oakland pastor and syndicated columnist.” Mr. Williams attributed the following neo-Jacobin quote to me: “Our first tasks now must be to crush the rebellions, punish the al-Sadr types and disband the militias.” The quote, though obviously not mine, looked familiar. It is from John O’Sullivan in the May 3, National Review. I had used the quote, attributed to O’Sullivan, in my article early this month, “National Review‘s Plan for Victory in Iraq.”

I contacted Mr. Williams. He acknowledged his mistake and apologized. Mistakes such as this can have a long life. Mr. Williams’ article is likely to find its way into another writer’s file, and one day I will find myself lumped together with Perle, Frum, Kristol and Wolfowitz in a paragraph bringing the blame home to the neo-Jacobins who destroyed America’s image in the world and unleashed more terrorism.

The speed of the Internet spreads errors faster than they can be corralled. One wonders how future historians will cope.

Author: Paul Craig Roberts

Paul Craig Roberts wrote the Kemp-Roth bill and was assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was associate editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and contributing editor of National Review. He is author or co-author of eight books, including The Supply-Side Revolution (Harvard University Press). He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon chair in political economy, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and senior research fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has contributed to numerous scholarly journals and testified before Congress on 30 occasions. He has been awarded the U.S. Treasury's Meritorious Service Award and the French Legion of Honor. He was a reviewer for the Journal of Political Economy under editor Robert Mundell.