Talk:Douglas J. Feith

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[edit] feith's book

In April 2008 Feith's detailed, footnoted, fact-based book replete with names and dates was published. The title is War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism. Agree or disagree with Feith, this book will be a teasure trove for future historians, because it is not vague, conclusory or non-specific as to who said and did what. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.103.14 (talk) 05:04, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Please don't delete the section from the WaPo article about Feith's book unless that article has been retracted in some way. Or, if you have the book and would like to include the information directly from the book as it relates here please add it - but there is no reason to delete notable and well-sourced content. The WaPo article was important in its own right, and the specific material published here -- Feith's criticism of the war handling and his rationale for supporting Saddam's overthrow in spite of the lack of WMD -- was newsworthy for good reason at the time and certainly merits consideration here. csloat (talk) 17:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree on all the merits of the WaPo information; but it appears verbatim on Feith's book's page, which is linked from his bio page. It doesn't make sense to have only the WaPo information on his bio page, while there is ~8x that much information on the book page. Unless we're going to import all the book page information to the bio page, which is not a desirable or recommended wiki practice. Enyce2308 (talk) 18:11, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] is a neconservative

Why is that the first thing mentioned about him? It seems more significant that he the under secretary of defense. Also, I'm not quite sure how and when labels should be applied. Chomsky isn't described as a Marxist or leftist critic even though that's what most people know him as. I know it can bias the reader to see the label upfront and it is perhaps equally biased to bury it in the article. We just need to be consistent.Lord of the Ping (talk) 05:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

More importantly, why is Douglas Feith listed as a "neoconservative"? I know that he's been referred to as one in other articles about him, but I've seen nothing in his backround that would indicate him as a NEO-conservative. A conservative yes. Neither William F. Buckley, nor the two Bush presidents are neo-conservatives to my way of thinking, whereas Ronald Reagan could arguably be seen as neo-con. I hate to say it, but I think that since the term has become such a nasty word over the past few years, and so many (but certainly not all) neo-cons have been historically jewish, any right wing jew is now classed as a "neo-con" by those opposed to their world view (and and maybe even mistakenly by supporters who don't know the history of the term, and find it easier to accept a jewish politician, writer or thinker as a neo-con than an outright con).
This might be nit-picking, and I'm sure someone out there will disagree with me, and I can forsee much print spilled on arguing "who and what is a Neo-conservative today", but I suggest that Mr. Feith, given his backround, be labeled, if he must be, as a "conservative".318odyssey (talk) 15:43, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Most reliable sources that address the issue refer to him as a neoconservative, so that's what Wikipedia should list here, regardless of individual wikipedia editors' views on who and what is neo-conservative. csloat (talk) 17:49, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
No, that's not exactly accurate, if the term is being used incorrectly, even by "reliable" sources... For an encyclopedic entry to be meaningful, the CORRECT term should be seeked out and used, not just an often used, but INACCURATE term. I'm not talking about an individual editor's "original research", but what is the closest actual label based upon a person's life and political philosophy (especially when discussing a controversial subject, as Mr. Feith is). Many sources in the media throw around the word "neo-conservative" because it's an easy handle, which is also politically loaded, but is often inacurate. A discussion should be held on the term, it very well might end up that the majority of editors (who happen to be reading this) agree on the neo-con label, and thus so be it at that point, but I'd like to hear from a few objective voices. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.84.25 (talk • contribs)
For us to determine that reliable sources are incorrect and chose a term of our own devising based on our own examinations of his biography and philosophy would be prohibited original research. Gamaliel (talk) 20:47, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
You're still not getting the point, and this will be my last addressing of the issue: I'm not discussing ORIGINAL RESEARCH. Unless someone offers a reason as to why he is classified as such, he's described here incorrectly. Please put forth an explanation as to why he's a "neo-conservative", as oppossed to a "conservative" (there might be a good reason, bourne out by a clear explanation of the word, as well as references), not just that Newsweek, Time Magazine and Keith Olbermann may have called him that. That's not encyclopedic. If Slate.com, Salon.com, and The Nation magazine happens to refer to Christopher Hitchens as a "neo-conservative", this doesn't make him one, and a biographic entry in an encyclopedia shouldn't use the term. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.98.165 (talk • contribs)
Fine, he's neoconservative because he supports (and was instrumental in) the aggressive projection of American military power in the Middle East as a way of spreading "democracy" based on the theory that it will lead to reduced violence, terrorism, and instability there. He's intellectually influenced by the circle around Podhoretz and Kristol; he worked alongside Wolfowitz and Perle to elect Scoop Jackson for gosh sakes. His office in the Pentagon was directed by someone who Hersh described as an expert in Leo Strauss. But, of course, none of this matters -- what matters is that reliable sources call him neoconservative, he probably considers himself that, and until you got here I have never heard of anyone questioning that designation. If you have sources that question it, and there is a meaningful public discussion about what kind of conservative he is, then by all means let's publish information about that too. But if not, we'll just have to allow Wikipedia to be as inaccurate as all of the world's journalists and academics who have addressed the issue. csloat (talk) 19:43, 13 June 2008 (UTC)