Christopher Hitchens on the Invasion of Grenada and Ronald Reagan (1983 - Part 1)

[obiwanobiwan13]

He looks so young......

[iBeep2009]

Did he have cosmetic surgery to remove his eye bags?? Tart!

[mrlopez2681]

@iBeep2009 - no - he had those all his life (Ive seen him)

[TheeChronicle]

Im against communism but I have no problems with Castro. He's done more for the caribbean and Africa then most. He helped with ending apartheid in southern africa and helped other countries fight against injustice in africa, latin america and the caribbean. i dont think Cuba would be a communist country if it werent for the threat from the US. I think castro is afraid Cuba will go back to being a prostitution, drug and mafia haven for american politicians again. so thats why the tight control.

[dizzythegreat]

Wow, so W. Bush was pretty much a second Reagan, huh?

[TheeChronicle]

@dizzythegreat yeah true. but Reagan was alot worse than bush. He was the one that supported the Aparthied in South Africa and supplied them with weapons to prevent uprising. He's the one that flooded the american streets with Crack cocaine to fund the wars in latin america. (IRAN CONTRA) and he didnt want to give Martin Luther King a national day. i could go on and on. yeah he was pretty bad too.

[blackamoor61]

Hitchens is a prize tit. I have folks who live in that part of the world and remember. At the time of the invasion the locals were terrified of Coard, Austin and the communist hoodlums who had slaughtered the PM and members of his cabinet and shot people dead in the street - this kind of craziness unheard of in the English speaking Caribbean. The US invasion rescued the population from these gangsters, who should have been hanged at Richmond hill. Most have been released now and have repented...

[harryluvessport]

@blackamoor61 To me is merely seemed that he was saying for Reagan to try and claim that his main objective was not to overthrow the goverment was wrong. That is all, and look at the many many countries of the world today who live in fear. Should the USA invade them! Its not that simple

[zubbubbi]

@harryluvessport Hitchens implies here that the U.S. had no right to invade Grenada, and stated that explicitly in the Nation. That was the standard view of the U.S. "Left": Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Michael Moore, etc. Nearly every Grenadan is grateful for rescue by the U.S. from a coup by a gang of thugs, just as Bosnian Muslims and Kosovars are grateful to the U.S. for saving them from more Serbian brutality, East Europeans to Reagan for his role liberating them from the Soviets.

[TheeChronicle]

@zubbubbi So you think Grenadians are grateful that a foreign country invades there land??? you have 7000 troops sent to an island of 95000 and only because they wanted to prevent Grenada from going socialist. which we had every right to do. as you can see my background is grenadian. So no America had no right to do what they did. Thats like Iran has the right to invade Iraq to prevent it from going democratic?

[zubbubbi]

@TheeChronicle Dozens of Grenadians told me it was good the U.S. invaded and restored constitutional democracy. Only pro-Castro communists dissented; are you one? You say it was to prevent Grenada "going socialist". Then you think the military coup murdering PM Maurice Bishop - himself a socialist leader of the New Jewel Movement - was "socialist" (very revealing). Theocratic Iran obstructing Iraq democracy is the very opposite of the U.S.-led restoration of democracy in Grenada.

[thisguy803]

Accept no substitutes

[JeffMaylor99]

This is the real Christopher Hitchens - a pro-Communist ass. Never forget who he really was. He only became a "NeoCon" when he discovered his Jewish ancestry and wanted to use American power to serve Israel.

[thisguy803]

@JeffMaylor99 fuckin idiot. i doubt someone who hates god more than you could possibly imagine, wants to serve Israel

[TheClam88]

@JeffMaylor99 yeah and you're fullashit too.

[manthasagittarius1]

@JeffMaylor99 How reductionist. How (pardon me) stupidly simple minded of you.

[adixon360]

@JeffMaylor99 Actually he fully supported a Palestinian state until the day he died.

[PBSmithy]

@J

When a group of left-wingers are attacked by another group whose stated ideology is to enforce a fundamentalist, theocratic, anti-democratic, anti-intellectual, death-worshiping, racist, misogynistic, murderous, stone-age, repressive regime upon the whole world there are usually 2 reactions.

The Idiot left-wingers will bleat on and on about imperialism, whereas the true progressives understand that sometimes you have to fight, die and kill to preserve enlightenment values

[LordGauche]

@JackWormwood This was recorded in 1983. The fatwa on Salman Rushdie and the American left's PC defense of Islamic death sentences came in 1989. Hitchens was for free expression, against religion, oppression and totalitarianism. I don't think we should have invaded Iraq, but Hitchen's argument for it was well-reasoned and informed. He never advocated the US policing the world. You should read something by him other than snippets you don't agree with.

[FlawlessCock]

LOL he just woke up sexy boi

[cbarrett34]

jesus, he looked like hell here. hungover and tired

[kerryoke68]

@cbarrett34 he really does lol

[batmandannyb]

SO YOUNG!

[disamjisa]

Oh Hitch, you were so gorgeous, so erudite. so witty. Who could follow in your shoes?

[drfoxcourt]

It is a pity Hitchens is no longer with us. I would be interested in his nuanced defense of the Invasion of Iraq in comparison to invasion of Grenada. I think he'd say Iraq was a true threat to our nation, and Grenada not so, but I would have loved to hear the way Hitchens would put it.

[rcarass1]

Hitchens on C-Span are some of my favourite video appearences of Hitch outside some of his particularly amazing debates (his thrashing of Galloway on Iraq, for example) and, thankfully, C-Span have made their entire archive of Hitch material available to watch to anyone who searches his name on their site! He always had such great chemistry with Mr. Lamb. Understandable when he is surely one of America's finest presenters and interviewers.

[peacefrog1916]

This is the Hitchens I shall remember.

[steerpike66]

How is such a rumbled, baggy, tired looking young man able to look this sexy? That steady humourous gaze would get anyone, male or female, into bed.

[giocarelli]

7:50 Delivering Hitchens style.

[beardedbroccoli]

Wow he looks just like his brother Peter here!

[v19d]

Of course what people like Mr Hitchins forgot to mention was the fact the UK was asked first.

[OdinLowe]

hahaha what`s hitch drinkin`?

Cuba Libre perhaps?

[dizzythegreat]

@OdinLowe I don't know about the 80s, but these days (before the cancer, at least) Hitch's drink of choice has been Johnnie Walker Black, often with Perrier.

[OdinLowe]

@dizzythegreat Yea I know... But it looks way darker than Johnny Walker Black. Least I think so...

[bromordra]

@dizzythegreat Breakfast of Champions

[dizzythegreat]

@bromordra Accept no substitutes.

[thatdutchguy420]

shit hes young

[nick794]

wish there was a combination of this cute hitchens and the recent vitriolic one who whoops some religious ass...

[nick794]

a cute hitchens who whoops some ass...

[grade21]

Is that coke he's drinking, or Johnny Walker Black Label neat?

[jim294]

Remember, the invasion of Grenada happened only a few days after hundreds of American Marines were killed in Beirut, Lebanon. Part of the reason for the Grenada invasion was to divert attention away from Reagan's Beirut failure.

[tooldruid]

A young genius stating the facts...

[Grace88Anderson]

hot

[SkepticHeathen]

geez, hitch looks like he's stoned and hasn't slept in days here. ... Even if that where true he'd still intellectually demolish anyone he's in contact with however.

[Cool2BCeltic]

A no-nonsense guy.

[notandywarhol]

What a vain drunken prick. Why is he looking at the camera all the time.

[catch2370]

@notandywarhol because he's on television, on a news show, broadcast to an audience of viewers who are tuning into that program on that channel to see him, and hear what he has to say. The same reason the host does every now and then, you dim-witted fuck.

[notandywarhol]

@catch2370 love the Trance music on you page you dumb ass wanker. This twit is right up your street to guide you to the REAL truth. YEAH, he is amazing

[catch2370]

@notandywarhol nonsensical

[LobsterPotsticker]

@notandywarhol where else would he look moron

[Sboy200]

@cnestudy1 lol, me too. when ever I say 'Christopher Hitchens' to any of my friends there faces glass over. and I think it started when the begging of this year, seem ages ago..... when I saw 'Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry vs the Catholic Church' one or two 100 vids more and here we are. when did u start watching?

[adtl5555]

The interviewers head looks cartoonishly large for his body.

[dillonfreed]

hitchens on john edwards ---- look it up ... how wrong he can be 

[bongoloid77]

good quality for such an old broadcast

[ToolFan68]

Does this man opposite Hitchens have the largest alien shaped head ever seen on a humanoid or is it just me?

[Sboy200]

this happen ten year before I was borne.... I'm so young

[winterstellar]

It was a bogus war, Reagan's advisers felt they needed a war to boost his popularity. So it was a war crime too. No students were in any danger at all

[nem700]

wow, alot of faggots on here.

[pretorious700]

wow, Hitchens' eye bags have bags

[EdNortonisMineLol]

Wow: back in the day, Hitchens was one good looking guy...

[Skytroop]

What Hitch knows about Grenada can be put in a thimble with a lot of room to spare. The mission was not only to rescue American personnel on the Island but also to restore a free democracy there. An Entebbe-style operation was not practical as the Students there were scattered all over the island. Reagan did the right thing.

[hamdemon99]

@Skytroop Why does EVERY LAST STUDENT interviewed by the press claim that there was no problem on the island? Is it possible this band of rabid hooligans didn't exist at all?

[ToolFan68]

@Skytroop Please. You obviously know nothing about Hitchens. Why don't you go read Hitch-22 and then get back to us on what he does or does not know. There is a damn good reason Hitchens has been one of the foremost thinkers of our time and you, in turn, are popping off on your you tube account in an attempt to lump even more American hubris onto the most insignificant military conquest in United States history.

[Skytroop]

@ToolFan68 You would not call it insignifcant if you were there! you also would know this tripe is just that,....TRIPE!

[SpraxIAKS]

@Skytroop " but also to restore a free democracy there." Now lets say even if that is true, there is nothing 'right' about that. You do not mingle in another countries affair unless they specifically ask for it or if it has reach the point to where something immediately has to be done. Ex. Rwanda.

[ridewave444]

Wow. This coming from a man who thought the Iraq War was justified. It's like he de-evolved or something. I believe because he is so anti-religion (as am I) he got kind of twisted in his evaluation of the Iraq War unfortunately.

[IcyIconoclast]

@ridewave444 what was so twisted in his evaluation of the iraq war?

[athabascka]

@ridewave444: I think there is a great deal wrong with your thinking if you are going to make the claim that Christopher Hitchens "de-evolved" because he no longer agrees with you. I personally think holding the position that Saddam Hussein should have never been brought to justice takes a great deal more "de-evolving" than Hitchens could ever hope to accomplish.

[Sabohaque]

His accent hasn't changed at all.

[christo930]

Did Hitchens ever comb his hair:)?

[i3u7n5]

Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears really favors Hitch at this age.

[sgtmcwallace]

look how tired he is

[xn117]

wow hitchens voice was very high back then... his voice now is almost like richard burtons... monotone and deep

[nurbSoldier]

@xn117 sounds the same to me

[i3u7n5]

@xn117 Good call - There's a section in his memoir "Hitch-22" where he mentions being compared to Richard Burton in terms of speaking voice.

[Pistolero24]

Footga of a once interesting figure (Although nothing extraordinary)...who's become the house keeper of the neo-cons...

[Hermoor]

LOOK, you can actually see his jaws moving :)

[RadioFreeWisconsin]

Interesting to compare Hitchens view on invading other countries 1983 vs 2003. Another old Trotskyist turned neo-con. Apologist for communist turned into rabid anti-islamist.

[hugoegbert79]

@RadioFreeWisconsin Agreed. It's very sad the way he turned his back on his old beliefs like that.

[Illimitus]

@RadioFreeWisconsin What do you expect? He's Jewish: Morality of convenience.

[ogdroadsong]

@RadioFreeWisconsin it was quite clear in his debates with Galloway who was rabid and who was the voice of reason.

[Christian121y]

@RadioFreeWisconsin You're missing the point of his supposed "change of views" regarding "invasion" of countries.Over the years the people getting "invaded" changed.An invasion to overthrow a GASP "Marxist" government is say different then liberating 25 million people from an Arab racist fascist genocidal tyrant like Saddam Hussein.But I already know this will fly over your head since you used the word neocon as an epithet.Oh well.

[grangeender1]

No doubt much to his surprise Christopher Hitchens has become a figure for whom the political right holds some affection - more so, I think, than the left. This is largely because he has showed himself over the years capable of recognizing the left's sillinesses and denouncing them. That said, "Hitch" is clearly early in his apostasy here and is still struggling to justify the left's instinctive anti-Americanism - the kind of fellow-traveling we who fought on the other side well remember.

[phooey108]

@grangeender1

anfi-Americanism, or at least the way the right uses the term, is shining evidence of the usual totalitarian right wing thought. Institutions of power, the leaders behind them, and the elite interests they represent represent "america" and opposition to these institutions is anti-Americanism. That the core of such fundamentalist thinking has parallels in dictatorships and authoritarian regimes is an observation that goes unnoticed by the Right. 

[scottishchap2008]

the KGB were stiring up marxist revolution in granada and were planning on wiping out 10% of the population and turning it into a police state, dont believe this left wing useful idiot

[RipTheJackR]

@scottishchap2008

retard :)

[Neville6000]

@scottishchap2008 : So, I'm supposed to believe a warmongering right-wing neocon sheep-man and useful idiot of the GOP like you?

Newsflash, Tea Party asswipe: The KGB HAD NO DESIGNS on Grenada, nor did Cuba: Grenada came by its Marxism on its own, and the U.S. just was looking for a reason to get Grenada, and the collapse of the Maurice Bishop government was just the reason needed to invade. Please get your head out of your ass (or the ass of whatever GOP hack you're the bum boy of.)

[johnnyd101]

wow hitchens was very hot back in the day

[zackhanscom]

@johnnyd101 he looks alright. but check out those bags under his eyes. must have been a booze hound by then already.

[jimmbo13]

God bless you for this...I love Hitchens in the 80s....and when he is the SOLE guest on CSPAN, as otherwise I simply have to skip over the other ones dialogue. 

[BenjaminTLaing]

Gosh, this is like watching the muppet babies.

[LOLDISNEYLAND]

Christopher Hitchens, a great great man.

[Metamorphosis20091]

wow, I'm in awe

[fomastephanovitch]

Nostalgia for the days when the left wasn't owned by special interests...

[umbrellaman75]

Hard to believe Lamb is only 8 years older than Hitchens.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

The English language is Linguistic Feces.

[brautigan81]

@AnonymousWhitePerson so what do you consider not to be? I'm just curious, I'm not getting smart with you.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

@brautigan81,

This English language is a verbal ballast.

[LOLDISNEYLAND]

@AnonymousWhitePerson You make no sense. English is fairly logical and humble for accepting and using other languages within itself. If you consider English to be "linguistic feces", then consider most people to be of feces. We are actually. Feces fertilise plants in which contribute to a large portion of our diet. We eat processed shit where the energy source was the sun.

So call me someone that talks shit if the english language is "linguistic feces".