Justin Rebello seems to have a bone to pick with me. In his editorial last issue (“Iraq War editorial missed the mark,” Feb. 28), he referred to me as someone who is incapable of writing, accused me of “alpha-male posturing” and suggested I neither watch the news nor read the papers. And of course he took a cheap shot at The Patriot, calling it “an uninformed pseudo-newspaper” as compared to the prestigious Northeastern News.

Basically, Rebello was upset I didn’t rehash the same old arguments and kick around the same recycled rhetoric surrounding the Iraq War debate. I didn’t refer to the democratic elections in Iraq, Saddam’s capture or the possibility of civil war. So what? These sound bites have been trotted out so many times they’re ineffective and frankly irrelevant.

Rebello whines that I didn’t back up my arguments, although, I clearly referenced historical lessons from World War II, pointing to the fact that war is barbaric and brutal, and that the only way to win is to fight hard. Of course, he misconstrued this as a claim that I believe the Iraq War is the same kind of specific conflict as World War II. Obviously, this is not the case. I was merely making a statement about warfare in general, and the mentality we must have if we’re going to have a chance at winning. It takes a wolf to kill a wolf.

He then attacked me for criticizing Cindy Sheehan, the sacred cow of the left. He defended her by saying, “The woman lost her son in a war and, as a result, is against the war. That makes her some kind of spotlight-seeking celebrity?” No, what makes her a spotlight-seeking celebrity is her ridiculous camp-outs at the Bush ranch, her self-centered “poor me” book and, worst of all, her Vanity Fair spread featuring pictures of her laying on top of her son’s grave, patronizing his sacrifice for publicity. That, Justin, makes Cindy Sheehan a shameless media mongerer and pseudo-celebrity whose 15 minutes should have ended 15 months ago.

Also, it’s certainly coincidental that “JR” commented on The News website, “Let’s hope that Moberg loses a loved one in the war so that he, too, can have his ’15 minutes of fame.'” I’m sure Rebello would condemn such classless vitriol, unless he happens to be the author, of course.

Rebello goes on to his least credible assertion, that I am a “flag-waving neoconservative lunatic.” Now Justin, let me explain something to you. I am probably the least neoconservative Republican you will ever meet. If you took the time to actually read my piece carefully, you would have seen that my stance is the exact opposite of the neoconservative position.

Obviously, the war in Iraq is a mess. It was foolishly conceived and horribly mismanaged. But looking to the past doesn’t solve anything. We’re in the war now, so I’m not going to waste my time trying to rationalize the decision to fight, as I’d rather focus on how to fight effectively. I’m saying we should have waged an all-out war from the beginning, and the Bush administration’s failure to do so has cost American lives.

Neoconservative foreign policy embraces nation-building and “democratization” of the Middle East. Woodrow Wilson’s eloquent speeches about the need to “make the world safe for democracy” during World War I have been emulated almost verbatim by George W. Bush

I, however, do not care about democracy in the Middle East, spreading freedom or nation-building. I only support fighting if it is to protect the American people, allies and economy. Let the Middle East destroy itself if it so chooses, just don’t mess with American interests in the process. My stance is the exact opposite of the neocon “stay the course” position, but apparently, Justin thinks all Republicans are the same.

So Justin, either your reading comprehension skills don’t quite make the mark or you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Whichever, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you should do a little more research on people you decide to excoriate in the media, even if it is just a school newspaper.

Maybe it’s time to practice what you preach, Rebello.

– Dave Moberg is a middler political science major, president of the College Republicans and editor in chief of the Northeastern Patriot.