Would the Last One Leaving Please Turn On The Lights
Sidney Blumenthal, a former staffer in the Clinton administration, has an ominous piece in The Guardian. Ominous because for the first time there really does seem to be a Vietnam parallel emerging. If war is a failure of imagination, a failure to see options far enough over the horizon line so that armed conflict can be avoided, this conflict is turning out also to be a failure to think critically and assess the consequences of choices made from the outset.
One of the many problems with a “war of choice” is that it is extremely difficult – if not impossible – to avoid the implication that this choice has a tinge of political opportunism to it. The American people generally are fairly forgiving in such situations, but only if the outcomes prove fortunate for the republic. Failures that prove costly in terms of blood and treasure are another matter.
And in an oddly related way, here is a link to a video clip of an encounter the president had with a man in North Carolina, who (as far as I can tell) is the first citizen to have publicly rebuked him for his behavior in office. Regardless one’s views about this administration’s policies, it seems likely that, had more people spoken so plainly and powerfully to our leaders, perhaps the current situation in Iraq and elsewhere would be very different