No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

The blind arrogance of the True Believer

Remember when General Shinseki told Congress that an invasion of Iraq would require about 200,000 to 300,000 troops and Wolfowitz followed by telling them that Shinseki's estimate was way too high?

Josh Marshall writes about the mindset that animated Bush, Wolfowitz Rumsfeld, and the administration in general. From Talking Points Memo

The people who planned and advocated for this war hadn't the slightest idea what they were getting into. All the plans, all the assumptions, all the notions of what would flow from this came from that basic inability to grasp the reality of what they were entering into.

If you put yourself back in that mindset the Bush politicals had as of early 2003, the idea was that the great mass of the Iraqi population would be in sync with what we were doing and eager to participate. Our role was being there at the ready to help them deal with crises brought on by the war or by the internal degeneration of the country in the years before it: ready to ship in water, food, help repave the roads, technical assistance getting their economy in order and reformed, etc. That's what we'd be there for. And thus we could pull most combat troops out after a few months.

The idea that we'd need a vast army of occupation -- hopefully one with some multinational flavor -- to make everyone keep their heads down while we went about with the serious and risky business of nation-building simply didn't occur to them. Thus the treatment of Shinseki.

Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and their cronies are not stupid men. But they badly miscalculated the requirements of an invasion of Iraq.

Why?

Because they are arrogant enough to believe - without proof - that they had the answer to what the Iraqis themselves wanted. Since they knew these beliefs to be true, any intelligence that contradicted them was wrong. Only intelligence that confirmed those beleifs, such as that profided by Chalabi and his INC was correct since it confirmed what they already knew in advance to be true. These beliefs became their assumptions for planning. They are operating on the assumption that everyone in the world wants what America has - free enterprise and democracy America-style as they define it.

Since they know their assumptions to be correct, then any system that provides a different or contradictory answer must be flawed and any individual who disagrees with them is an enemy who opposes the progress of humanity. People who disagree with them are not people who have some knowledge or understanding of reasons that the plans won't work. They are disagreeing with the bearers of the Truth and are not worthy of respect. They are arrogant and self-serving enemies of Truth and progress who must be removed or destroyed.

Shinseki and most of the uniformed high-ranking military were replaced. Joe Wilson and Richard Clarke are to be destroyed.

If you replace the phrase "what America has - free enterprise and democracy America-style. " with "Christianity" or "Islam" or "Communism" then you still have the exact same mechinism at work. The mechanism is the arrrogance of the "True Believer."

These are not people who look at evidence that their plans and intentions are wrong. When things start going wrong with their plans, the True Believers do not sit back and question their assumptions. Since these people are True Believers, they already know that those "assumptions" are true. They are in fact Truths which are beyond question. Instead of questioning the assumptions their plans are based on, they simply redouble their efforts to make their (flawed and failing) plans work as designed. Plans based on the Truth cannot be wrong. They are just being implemented inadequately.

These Bush administration people will NOT be able to make the occupation of Iraq work. They never beleived an "occupation" would be necessary, since they knew (without asking) before the invasion what the Iraqis wanted from a government. They wanted what everyone in the world wants from their government, and what America already has and can provide them. It is this arrogance of unquestioned assumnptions which are the Truths they live with and send others to die for that makes them "True Beleivers."

True Believers cannot learn from their mistakes, because they cannot admit that they have made any. The failures of their plans are not the fault of their mistake, they are the result of treacherous, arrogant and self-serving opposition.

Since the Bush administration cannot correct their own mistakes, Bush must go! We really need to get some mentally healthy adults running the show - soon!

posted by Richard at 2:21 PM