Inteligence
Suppose that someone were to come up with a videotape of Bush saying to his Cabinet,
"I can't believe this stroke of luck. Those Arabs flying those planes into the World Trade Center gives us the perfect justification for invading Iraq.... Yes, I know that Iraq had nothing to do with that attack. That doesn't matter. The American people will go along with whatever I tell them. Look, we're going to say that Iraq was involved, that they are a continuing threat to our country and our way of life... I don't know, you come up with some justification, but I want to have taken over that country within a year, you hear me...."
The tape might first appear on some blog or website since the major media outlets would not carry it or report on it until they could confirm it. Since the White House would deny the existence of such a tape, the media would decline to air it. Eventually, though, enough people would see the tape, and tape recordings, minutes and notes would emerge, to be posted along side the video link. At that point, the media would feel that it had to begin acknowledging the tape and would begin tentatively reporting on it.
While progressives would point to the tape as confirmation of everything that they have been saying, the reaction of the general public, the majority of Americans, would be to get angry at the person who released the tape. The issue in the media, then, would become one of violating the sactitiy of confidential Cabinet meetings and endangering Natrional Security.
The point is that why we went to war is not that important for the American people. Basically, the American people needed to strik out at someone in a cathartic way so that they could feel an immediate sense of closure about the events of September 11, 2001. Invading a foreign country, exercising massive military force, overthrowing a vile dicataor, all brought about a sense of relief from the emotional pain and tension fo 9/11, a sense of satisfaction at having taken revenge on somebody for what happened.
It doesn't really matter that Iraq was the wrong country in the sense that had nothing to do with terrorism generally or the attacks of 9/11 in particular. In another senese, Iraq was the right country because it was run by an evil dictator, it was populated by people who we generally suspect of bad intentions, it had been systematically crushed economically for a decade and so it had little real miltary strength, and so we knew that they would appear to put up a fight but that we could quickly and decisively beat them. It would be a big fireworks show, and in the end the American people would feel (they did not have to think) that something had been done to avenge 9/11.
"I can't believe this stroke of luck. Those Arabs flying those planes into the World Trade Center gives us the perfect justification for invading Iraq.... Yes, I know that Iraq had nothing to do with that attack. That doesn't matter. The American people will go along with whatever I tell them. Look, we're going to say that Iraq was involved, that they are a continuing threat to our country and our way of life... I don't know, you come up with some justification, but I want to have taken over that country within a year, you hear me...."
The tape might first appear on some blog or website since the major media outlets would not carry it or report on it until they could confirm it. Since the White House would deny the existence of such a tape, the media would decline to air it. Eventually, though, enough people would see the tape, and tape recordings, minutes and notes would emerge, to be posted along side the video link. At that point, the media would feel that it had to begin acknowledging the tape and would begin tentatively reporting on it.
While progressives would point to the tape as confirmation of everything that they have been saying, the reaction of the general public, the majority of Americans, would be to get angry at the person who released the tape. The issue in the media, then, would become one of violating the sactitiy of confidential Cabinet meetings and endangering Natrional Security.
The point is that why we went to war is not that important for the American people. Basically, the American people needed to strik out at someone in a cathartic way so that they could feel an immediate sense of closure about the events of September 11, 2001. Invading a foreign country, exercising massive military force, overthrowing a vile dicataor, all brought about a sense of relief from the emotional pain and tension fo 9/11, a sense of satisfaction at having taken revenge on somebody for what happened.
It doesn't really matter that Iraq was the wrong country in the sense that had nothing to do with terrorism generally or the attacks of 9/11 in particular. In another senese, Iraq was the right country because it was run by an evil dictator, it was populated by people who we generally suspect of bad intentions, it had been systematically crushed economically for a decade and so it had little real miltary strength, and so we knew that they would appear to put up a fight but that we could quickly and decisively beat them. It would be a big fireworks show, and in the end the American people would feel (they did not have to think) that something had been done to avenge 9/11.
posted by Godel at 4:13 PM
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