Bernard Lewis, Neoconservative Intellectual And ‘Godfather’ Of Iraq War, Dies At 101
Bernard Lewis chats with Henry Kissinger Image by friends of tel aviv university
Historian Bernard Lewis, a Jewish neoconservative who warned of a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West, died Saturday at the age of 101 in New Jersey.
Lewis was a consultant to both Israeli leaders and two U.S. presidents.
He is perhaps best known as one of the intellectual architects of the war to topple Saddam Hussein, which turned into a quagmire that cost billions and thousands of American lives.
Generations of students, intelligence personnel and diplomats learned about the history of Islam through his writings. His research, which dealt with the history of the Middle East, brought him fame, but also many critics and enemies around the world. One of his strongest critics was the Palestinian-born intellectual Edward Said, who accused him of a patronizing attitude toward Islam, demagoguery and ignorance. “For some, I’m the towering genius,” Lewis said in 2012. “For others, I’m the devil incarnate.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
