Bordering On Insanity - Or Rather, Being Deep Into It
The Seventh Principle of Incompetence (Incompetence is nothing but consistent with itself) states: "As long as incompetents do not acknowledge their affliction with intellectual sloth, they will stubbornly refuse to change. Some people call this hubris. To this effect, incompetents are known to repeat the same mistakes again and again, because of their arrogance and utter fright at being exposed for what they truly are - and thus, they find themselves unknowingly enacting Franklin's, and/or Einstein's, very definition of insanity, which is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
It goes without saying that the Bush administration constitutes a paragon of this Principle, including where Iran is concerned.
It goes without saying that the Bush administration constitutes a paragon of this Principle, including where Iran is concerned.
We all remember the rattling of sabers which preceded the launching of the Iraq War. As it turned out, the justifications put forth by the Bush administration to enter this war of choice were based on shoddy, cherry-picked and "cooked" intelligence.
The same is happening with a looming Iran War. First, we've had the loud rattling of sabers (which are still rattling, louder than ever), along with unsubstantiated (if not ludicrous) claims of Iran involvement in the Iraq insurgency - as a matter of fact, the combination of these two elements even spurred an unanimous Senate resolution condemning Iran. This in turn lead to last week's N.I.E. on the threat of terrorism to the U.S., which is so shoddily concocted that it has confused some elements of the MSM into reporting that al-Qaeda (a Sunni, anti-shiite terrorist group) is being hosted by Iran (a Shiite-dominated country). The fact is that this N.I.E. represents another attempt at cooking intelligence, which allows the drawing of specious conclusions which, in turn, are politically convenient to further point the finger at Iran - and thus apparently "strenghtening" justifications for a U.S. military intervention.
But why fear a war against Iran? After all, everything is going so well there, in Iraq. Some have even gone as far as likening Baghdad to the "Mall of America" - provided that littering mutilated, tortured, unidentified bodies are likewise a regular fixture in America's malls. Besides, an Iran War may cost even less than the Iraq War - talk about your once-in-a-lifetime bargain!
Furthermore, winning a war apparently is not about actually winning it in the classic sense of the term after all. Indeed, if only the right messages can be sent by the politicized military, helped by willing "competent" journalists and the "brave" 101st keyboard commandos, then these said messages would be fully accepted by the American people, war critics would be exposed as the loonie extremists that they truly are, there would be no more demands for troop withdrawal - and thus the war would be won at last!
Aye - war does indeed only need a sound, solid and sustainable brand marketing, while its conduct is being devised by wise, all-knowing (non-military) political theorycrafters (as opposed to actual military folks, who don't know jack), in order to be won.
Therefore, why fear war with Iran indeed - we now know how to win such wars of choice now!
What's next - Regent Cheney actually running for President?
This is no more about utter incompetence. We have crossed beyond the Seventh Principle and entered some sort of Twilight Zone where wrong is right, black is white, no is yes, up is down, incompetence is competence, fantasy is reality.
Hence, welcome to the Realm of Insanity - here's your customized designer straight-jacket and your comfortable, luxurious designer padded room ... we hope you'll enjoy your stay in this Brave, New World of Madness.
(Cross-posted at DKos and at Suzie-Q)
The same is happening with a looming Iran War. First, we've had the loud rattling of sabers (which are still rattling, louder than ever), along with unsubstantiated (if not ludicrous) claims of Iran involvement in the Iraq insurgency - as a matter of fact, the combination of these two elements even spurred an unanimous Senate resolution condemning Iran. This in turn lead to last week's N.I.E. on the threat of terrorism to the U.S., which is so shoddily concocted that it has confused some elements of the MSM into reporting that al-Qaeda (a Sunni, anti-shiite terrorist group) is being hosted by Iran (a Shiite-dominated country). The fact is that this N.I.E. represents another attempt at cooking intelligence, which allows the drawing of specious conclusions which, in turn, are politically convenient to further point the finger at Iran - and thus apparently "strenghtening" justifications for a U.S. military intervention.
But why fear a war against Iran? After all, everything is going so well there, in Iraq. Some have even gone as far as likening Baghdad to the "Mall of America" - provided that littering mutilated, tortured, unidentified bodies are likewise a regular fixture in America's malls. Besides, an Iran War may cost even less than the Iraq War - talk about your once-in-a-lifetime bargain!
Furthermore, winning a war apparently is not about actually winning it in the classic sense of the term after all. Indeed, if only the right messages can be sent by the politicized military, helped by willing "competent" journalists and the "brave" 101st keyboard commandos, then these said messages would be fully accepted by the American people, war critics would be exposed as the loonie extremists that they truly are, there would be no more demands for troop withdrawal - and thus the war would be won at last!
Aye - war does indeed only need a sound, solid and sustainable brand marketing, while its conduct is being devised by wise, all-knowing (non-military) political theorycrafters (as opposed to actual military folks, who don't know jack), in order to be won.
Therefore, why fear war with Iran indeed - we now know how to win such wars of choice now!
What's next - Regent Cheney actually running for President?
This is no more about utter incompetence. We have crossed beyond the Seventh Principle and entered some sort of Twilight Zone where wrong is right, black is white, no is yes, up is down, incompetence is competence, fantasy is reality.
Hence, welcome to the Realm of Insanity - here's your customized designer straight-jacket and your comfortable, luxurious designer padded room ... we hope you'll enjoy your stay in this Brave, New World of Madness.
(Cross-posted at DKos and at Suzie-Q)
8 POVs/Comments:
Good analysis, Mentarch. Odd how they concentrate on Iran, when the real potential nuclear threat is Pakistan. I never thought I'd have to watch The Twilight Zone for comic relief.
TC: aye ... (sigh)
Has this President put just my head in a spin or is most of the world watching on pins and needles at this nut.
I want be shocked if Iran is attacked by Cheney, Bush and company trying to explain how our diplomatic diplomacy did not work because Iran would not obey their wish.
Then as tomcat stated Al Qaeda might in up with a nuclear weapon because once again we have our eyes and ears some place else.
What did you call it, "hubris"
where these guys keep doing the same thing over and over. Taking their eyes off the real threat.
Great post!
((shudder))
What happens when incompetence meets apathy, Mentarch?
Lynn: I can't say for sure what would happen, but I sure call this a "perfect recipe for disaster" ... O.o
Let's Talk: thanks ... and yes - thngs are rather *not* looking on the bright side these days ...
(keeping my fingers crossed while still hoping for hope ...)
Good post. Yes, attacking Iran is a perfect example of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Same old wine in a new bottle.
Who Hijacked Our Country
Tom: 'Nuff said! ;-)
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