The Folly of Ideology

[realFedUp]

http://www.geraldplessner.com/articles/article.cgi?doc=20030904170039

The folly of ideology
by
Gerald Plessner

America is now witnessing the folly of ideology. The people now in charge of our foreign affairs have waited years to implement their radical views and as their bungling of the pacification of post-war Iraq seems to be proving, no amount of failure will convince them of the fallacy of their world view.

-snip-
It is obvious that they did almost nothing to prepare for stabilizing and securing postwar Iraq --- except for pre-arranging sweetheart contracts with Dick Cheney's corporate friends in Texas.

-snip-
What they did bordered on criminal. They allowed the pillage of Baghdad, resulting in the destruction of much of the country's civil and criminal records and its civil government records. They dissolved the Iraqi army and police force, sending hundreds of thousands of trained fighters, demolition experts and members of three murderous security services home without money but with knowledge of where the guns and ammunition are stored.

continued

[vixengrl]

1. Ideology may be folly, but it's hard for the fools to see it.

The players in creating this administration's foreign policy spent their years from college on reinforcing their world view over and over through reading books and reports out of the think tanks of...their side. Dissenting views, being to them *obviously* wrong, have not and probably won't be considered. And the problem is, with blinders on, they've waltzed into a corner in Afganistan, in Iraq, and in the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Real foreign policy *isn't* theoretical. It *isn't* going to go according to some plan. It must remain flexible and open to evolving scenarios. People being what they are--complicated and emotionally driven, it appears foolish not to consider any number of fall-backs and "outs". Instead, we appear to be more enmired in situations stickier and stickier to extricate ourselves from. Afghanistan is not ready for us to leave. There are still Taliban-the madrassas still educate people in radicalism. There's still AL-quaeda. The terrorists do and have occupied more than one country. North Korea will remain a potential problem because it seems clear this gov't isn't necessarily floating any potential solution. Blaming the previous admin. for considering the Palestinian side of the M.E. conflict for leading to "serious intifada" with "shoot for the moon" tendencies (And by the way, uh, who all on the Palestinian side do they suppose Clinton was supposed to bring to the table?) And Iraq...

Ever hear the phrase, timing is everything? These bright things thought they had great timing in that US concerns over the War on Terror were such that the general concensus would be to agree with a move against "Saddam and his WMDs". But it's later, now. Things change. If this admin. was less blindered by their one-track thinking, they might have considered what would happen in a worst-case scenario--a bloody, drawn out guerilla debacle and costly peac-keeping mission where we are not necessarily appreciated.

Sigh. Although Saddam was and is a rotter, wasn't the best time for him to be finished off twelve years ago? (You know, before the rabble were encouraged into an unassisted uprising that led to the mass graves we find even now?) Sometimes, people just need to learn to deal with their damn mistakes, Republicans included. The way it had to be dealt with for eight years...ahem...and the way the incipient terrorism threat of Bin Laden, etc., were more and more realized and dealt with during that time.

This sure has metamorphosed into a rant, and I truly apologize if I went on and on. But there is a lack of concern for consequence on the part of these people with their cocksure cretinism which galls me the more I meditate on it. They're like cheaters writing answers on their sleeves for a test, and finding they got a whole different set of questions.

[realFedUp]

2. well, that was an interesting read.

I'll get back to you tomorrow...
thanks.

[bemildred]

3. There is no cure for stupidity.

And, stupidity manifests itself most assuredly in the
notion that the World is really a simple place.