The Speculist

This made me cry.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
The irony is tragic.

Had Bush attacked preemptively the events of September 11 could still have happened - the terrorists were already over here and were operating more or less independently. Bush would have been charged with inciting the violence against us.

The world would have said that we got what we deserved.

Um . . . what's the point?

Nobody is seriously suggesting that Bush should have pre-emptively invaded Afghanistan, or that 9/11 could definitely have been averted with better intelligence.

Bush's sin is not that he was given bad intelligence re: terrorism pre-9/11 and re: WMD pre-Iraq. Instead, Bush's sin is that he comes accross as profoundly unconcerned that he was given bad intelligence and profoundly unconcerned that he took his country to war (in Iraq) based on bad intelligence. Instead of acknowledging any of this, he simply shifts rationales (just like he did when his initial reason for the tax cut evaporated). Giving the president every benefit of the doubt, and conceding that the invasion of Iraq might have been a good idea in light of the intelligence he had at the time, he still needs to be held to account for squandering the immense reserves of international goodwill the U.S. enjoyed after 9/11, the manner in which the war and its aftermath are being conducted, and his absolutely ludicrous expectations that the people of Iraq are willing and/or able to tolerate an infidel occupying army and set up some kind of Jeffersonian democracy.

Yes, the problem with the nation building philosophy is that it doesn't allow for the time it takes for new social meme to be integrated into a culture. A better system is thrust upon them with no regard for their wants and needs, leaving the population feeling conquered. This of course breeds resentment which leads to violent uprisings which will only get more agressive and costly in lives.

In our shared past, this resistance was squashed ruthlessly with violence which only led to a longer time before any valuable memes were propogated. In effect, it did the opposite of it's intention - advancement of society. The only question is whether the Internet could possibly allow for a less traumatic uplift of our global mindset. I believe it can, and I bet any net junky would agree.

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