May 25, 2007
Akrasia in Iraq
The other day Gary Kamiya had an insightful essay at Salon to the effect that Bush hasn't been impeached because his "warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche." I think that's right — not enough people have made the connection between the pervasive tinpot militarism of American society and the persistence of gangsters successfully masquerading as national leaders. One way to undo the damage is to think clearly about what is actually happening in our wars of choice; to help us do that I turned once again to Wayne White, a former senior officer in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department. What ensues is pretty much a high level briefing. I'm very grateful to Wayne for taking the time and consider it a privilege to talk with him. And it's nice to have had him back, which I hope to do again. Total runtime here of an hour and forty three minutes. Listen and think.
Comments
I am very sorry also to hear the news of Andrew Bacevich's son.
For someone who has not lived in a military family, I think it is very hard to understand the ideals, expectations, and competitiveness that such a life entails even at an early age.
The world has changed quite a bit since I was a child. God, country, and family: in that order, was what I learned and believed (and I still don't disagree with it in practice).
I don't think that simple faith differs very much among military families then or now.
But the idea, that I also learned and trusted — that our Commander In Chief would always be an elected civilian responsible and answerable to the people — brings me bitter tears the more I think about how it is not true today. How many lies can our people take?
God bless our troops, and God damn the dictators.
Posted by: Robert B. Livingston | May 27, 2007 12:05 AM
Please see also the Op-ed Col. Bacevich wrote about his son's death in the Washington Post.
Posted by: George | May 27, 2007 9:05 PM