And that is one of the huge problems at the root of this whole mess. One of the binding, informing narratives at the core of the American mind is the idea that the Good Guys Always Win. There may be ugly set-backs, there may be moments when it appears there's no way to stop the villain's nefarious schemes, but in the end the side of Right and Truth will always prevail.
And given the assumption of our president and the rest of his crowd that Of Course we are the Good Guys in this war, simply because the other side is so shockingly violent, it's a wonder we're not in a worse mess. When you know that you're on the side of the angels, you don't feel the need to examine your actions and assumptions.
There are several fora where I have to severely curb my urge to say, "Hey, yes, we may well be fighting a war for the survival of the very ideas upon which this nation was founded, but are we going about it in the optimal way, or are we squandering our resources in counterproductive strategies that don't hit the real sources of this pestilence and may even actually radicalize moderate Muslims who might well have been our allies?" The people on those fora have already made up their minds, and trying to convince them that we may have made a tremendous mistake meets only with hostility.
Re: splitting Iraq
And that is one of the huge problems at the root of this whole mess. One of the binding, informing narratives at the core of the American mind is the idea that the Good Guys Always Win. There may be ugly set-backs, there may be moments when it appears there's no way to stop the villain's nefarious schemes, but in the end the side of Right and Truth will always prevail.
And given the assumption of our president and the rest of his crowd that Of Course we are the Good Guys in this war, simply because the other side is so shockingly violent, it's a wonder we're not in a worse mess. When you know that you're on the side of the angels, you don't feel the need to examine your actions and assumptions.
There are several fora where I have to severely curb my urge to say, "Hey, yes, we may well be fighting a war for the survival of the very ideas upon which this nation was founded, but are we going about it in the optimal way, or are we squandering our resources in counterproductive strategies that don't hit the real sources of this pestilence and may even actually radicalize moderate Muslims who might well have been our allies?" The people on those fora have already made up their minds, and trying to convince them that we may have made a tremendous mistake meets only with hostility.