Rich Lowry: The return of evil

  • By Rich Lowry
  • Sunday, February 8, 2015 9:01pm
  • Opinion

Where is Chris Kyle when you need him?

The late hero of the movie “American Sniper” made no apology for killing as many members of al-Qaida in Iraq, the precursor of ISIS, as he could get in his rifle sights.

After the burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot, who would object to Kyle, or any other American sniper, shooting down these murderous fanatics if he could get access to them? And who would quibble with Kyle’s characterization of these people as “savages”?

Part of what the left finds objectionable about Kyle is his unshakable moral certainty. But in light of ISIS’s spectacular advertisements of its own cruelty, Kyle’s point of view holds up very well.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The ISIS beheadings last summer marked the return of the rhetoric of evil, because no other word will quite suffice for beheadings, crucifixions and, now, an immolation.

“Violent extremism,” the administration’s phrase of choice, obviously doesn’t capture it. You can pile on the adjectives — hideous, savage, heinous — and still not get at the boundless malevolence of caging a man and burning him alive.

In his first statement after the horrifying news of the pilot’s fate, President Barack Obama said the act reinforced the “viciousness and barbarity” of ISIS, which he repeated must be — what else? — “degraded and ultimately defeated.” He added that “whatever ideology they’re operating off of, it’s bankrupt.”

Argentina is bankrupt. Radio Shack is bankrupt. ISIS is evil.

Obama has used the word “evil” about ISIS on other occasions, although obviously not as often as his predecessor. George W. Bush made unapologetic use of the word and caught hell for it. On the left, it became a given that it spoke to his manifest unsuitability for the presidency.

The controversial ethicist Peter Singer wrote a book titled “The President of Good and Evil: Questioning the Ethics of George W. Bush.” Needless to say, it wasn’t an endorsement. Glenn Greenwald wrote his own tome titled “A Tragic Legacy: How a Good Vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency.”

It became a trope that Bush was just like his enemies in his fearsome certitude. Commentator Bruce Bartlett unburdened himself of this deep thought: Bush believes the Islamic radicals “can’t be persuaded, that they’re extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he’s just like them.”

Yeah, they were exactly the same except that one unhesitatingly ordered the hijacking of civilian aircraft to crash into skyscrapers, and the other unhesitatingly described that act of mass murder as evil.

What is it about the word “evil” that so offends the left?

It smacks of a religious worldview that makes secularists uncomfortable. It sets up a natural opposition between good and evil — what experts dissecting Bush called a “binary discourse” — that is altogether too confident in our own virtue for the left. It doesn’t necessarily entail any particular policy response, but it tilts toward a total commitment to fighting the enemy, since a campaign to degrade evil feels inherently inadequate.

If Bush was ill-served at times by his stubbornness and certainty, it’s always worth remembering that Democrats were perfectly content to lose to al-Qaida in Iraq when Bush was ordering the surge in 2007, and Obama’s insistence on pulling out of Iraq entirely was a priceless boon to ISIS.

Obama was allegedly the embodiment of a wholly different approach than Bush, much more nuanced than his predecessor and his embarrassing nomenclature of “evil.” Yet Obama’s doubts were more about the usefulness and goodness of American power than about his own purposes. He pursued the “end” of the Bush-era wars at all costs, regardless of the depravity of the forces on the ground who would benefit.

We were supposed to be beyond good versus evil, although the other side didn’t get the memo and never left the field. It’s almost as if the greatest trick evil ever played was persuading the left not to call it by its proper name.

Rich Lowry can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com.

More in Opinion

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, speaks during a news conference in April 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Anti-everything governor

Nothing wrong with being an obstinate contrarian, unless you would rather learn, build consensus, truly govern and get something done.

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to Anchor Point residents during a community meeting held at the Virl “Pa” Haga VFW Post 10221 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Big beautiful wins for Alaska in the Big Beautiful Bill

The legislation contains numerous provisions to unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource economy.

Children are photographed outside their now shuttered school, Pearl Creek Elementary, in August 2024 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo provided by Morgan Dulian)
My Turn: Reform doesn’t start with cuts

Legislators must hold the line for Alaska’s students

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in