Hitchens vs. Ali

I've been searching for a recording of this debate (in seven parts) from the moment I heard it occurred. In April of 2002 at Georgetown University Christopher Hitchens debated Tariq Ali, the leftist Anglo-Pakistani writer and campaigner (and supposed inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "Street Fightin' Man," on sundry global topics, particularly American imperialism and the Muslim world. These two intellectual titans had a decades-long friendship as activists on the left, but Mr. Hitchens' departure from what became the prevailing left analysis of 9/11 resulted in a rupture that, as the debate audio indicates, was bitter and not soon forgotten.

Two weeks after the World Trade Center atrocity Mr. Ali wrote in Counterpunch a denunciation of his former comrade. In his opening remarks at the debate Mr. Hitchens responded:

Now Tariq Ali spent the months of September and October in London mobilizing for a demonstration with others under the pathetic slogan “Stop the War Before It Starts.” That’s in October and November. Not only is that the most lame, abject slogan I think any peace movement has ever come up with, but it also makes very clear the view of its organizers, which was and is obviously this: that the war hadn’t started yet, which in turn means war did not start on September 11. There would only be a war if there was a counterattack. I swear to you Tariq--I'll look at you and tell you this--I never thought I'd live to see the left sink so fucking low.

Not in a generous mood either, Mr. Ali said a few minutes later, "So if we're talking about intelligent and principled debate I don't intend to learn any lessons from you." They have since debated three other times, once in London and two times on Democracy Now. The volatility, bitterness, and rhetorical intrepidity of these debates is rivaled only by the Hitchens-Galloway confrontation--a must-see.