 |
October 27, 2007Like Hardy Perennials, The Bad Ideas Linger On...George Packer asks a very good question: "Every now and then, a discredited official leaves the Administration, but why doesn’t a discredited idea ever get fired?" Yes, the Wurmsers come and go, talking of (Arab Shi'a) risorgimento (with apologies to T.S. Eliot) , but the ill-advised policies live on. There are many possible reasons why, but among them dim-witted denial must rank highly. For an excellent example, see N-Pod getting the M. Kakutani treatment here: Often the reasoning in this book is downright perverse. For instance Mr. Podhoretz contends that the continuing violence in Iraq is actually “a tribute to the enormous strides that had been made in democratizing and unifying the country under a workable federal system.” He continues: “If the sectarian militias thought that unification was a pipe dream, would they be shedding so much blood in the hope of triggering a large-scale civil war? If the murderous collection of die-hard Sunni Baathists, together with their allies inside the government, agreed that democratization had already failed, would they have been waging so desperate a campaign to defeat it?” Remember now, the President and his Vice-President take the counsel of such men very seriously. When cretinous friendly 'journalists' aren't being brought around for a pep talk, it's deep think with the VDH, Bernard Lewis and N-Pod ranks that passes for grand strategy 'think time' in today's White House. And it's just one reason (feel free to list others) that discredited ideas aren't getting "fired", per Packer's well-turned formulation. Put differently, it's Alice in Wonderland la-la land over in the Oval Office, and the patient ministrations of Bob Gates and the like notwithstanding, that's not going to change much these next 15 or so months. Which means the prospects of a strategic revamping of our posture in the Middle East (or anywhere else, for that matter) before the end of this Administration hover somewhere between less than zero and nil. Comments
It can't be accidental that the neocons always frame issues as "heads I win, tails you lose." If there is a lot of bloodshed in Iraq it must be because the idea of democracy is on the right track and is frightening to the bad guys. On the other hand, if everything is peaceful it means that we've put in place an orderly society that is well on its way to democracy. Similarly, the fact that there has been no terrorist attack in the US since 9/11 means that we're doing things right, just as if we had been attacked would mean that we need to redouble our efforts to do more of the same. 
Which means the prospects of a strategic revamping of our posture in the Middle East (or anywhere else, for that matter) before the end of this Administration hover somewhere between less than zero and nil. Congratulations! Your Bush Derangement Syndrome Club Card is in the mail! And the best part is that your statement above is only correct if you are talking about a positive strategic revamping. With this crew, not only is a negative strategic revamping a possibility, its a near inevitability. For instance, the Turkey/Kurd mess --- its going to require a strategic revamping, and whatever we choose to do is only going to make things worse. Do we continue to support the extreme level of Kurdish autonomy, and thus undergo a strategic revamping of our relationship with Turkey? Or, do we side with Turkey, and undergo a strategic revamping of our relationship with the Kurds, and the Iraq central government? And that just the inevitable strategic revamping we will have to undergo in the next 15 months. There are a couple of strong possibilities for forced "strategic revamping" --- like a fundamentalist/military coup in Pakistan, or another terrorist attack on US soil, or a renewed insurgency by the tanned, rested, and ready Sunni nationalists that Petraeus allowed to reorganize for short term domestic political consumption. We can't predict what our options will be, merely that all options considered by Bushco will only make things worse. Then there is voluntary revamping -- like attacking Iran. Keep in mind that Bush thinks it would be irresponsible to leave the Iran problem for the next (Democratic) President, and our only hope is a virtual military coup here in the US, with the Joint Chiefs refusing to carry out the orders of the President. I bet right about now, your old Belgravia stomping grounds are looking mighty good.... Posted by: p_lukasiak at October 27, 2007 05:55 PM | Permalink to this comment
What was plukasiak struggling to say, in English? I think all the attempts at sarcasm and insults kind of destroyed the legibility, which is unfortunate, as I'd like to read a legible version of his ideas, whatever exactly they may be? Posted by: Sierra Walden at October 27, 2007 06:23 PM | Permalink to this comment
I find myself thinking more and more of Bush as the Franklin Pierce of the 21st century. Of course, Pierce's party had enough sense not to renominate him... Posted by: Bruce Moomaw at October 27, 2007 11:58 PM | Permalink to this comment
Well, I'd like to point out that Greg was one of the first bloggers to point out what kind of mess we'd be getting into with Turkey and the Kurds... I don't think it's fair to really assign BDS to him now - he's been very open-eyed about the whole mess for several years. Then again, I can also understand p_lukasiak to a degree. It's an incredibly frustrating situation. Could you Americans please do something to make sure that this nightmare ends, BEFORE the next disaster level is reached? Posted by: Mentar at October 28, 2007 08:30 AM | Permalink to this comment
The reasons the ideas have never left is that in the eyes of this administration, the ideas have never been discredited. They have been implemented poorly by people no longer there, they have been sabotaged by the traitorous left, they have been misrepresented by the "liberal media", etc. However, the ideas were valid before and remain valid. At least from the perspective of people that don't look at the world realistically. Posted by: john at October 29, 2007 10:54 AM | Permalink to this comment
Passing fancies may be discarded, but core beliefs don't. Particularly when they've brought a lot of benefit to those promoting them, and when failure is a minor problem to be spun. Posted by: Barry at November 1, 2007 10:10 AM | Permalink to this comment
Post a comment
|
|
Reviews of Belgravia Dispatch
"Awake"
--New York Times
Recent Entries
Bush/Aznar
The Sartre of Tysons Corner Like Hardy Perennials, The Bad Ideas Linger On... Epic Waste Department of Delicious Ironies They Write Letters... Thuggish Madness "Serious Consequences" Knife's Edge Enough Denial, Please
Search
English Language Media
New York Times
Financial Times The Economist The Times The Spectator Daily Telegraph The New Yorker Washington Post New Criterion New Republic National Review The Atlantic The American Conservative Harpers The Week The Guardian Weekly Standard The Nation WSJ Opinion Matt Drudge Real Clear Politics
Foreign Affairs Commentariat
Non-English Language Press
The Blogs
Across the Aisle
Marc Ambinder America Abroad American Footprints The American Scene Armavirumque Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker-Posner Balloon Juice &C (TNR) Phil Carter Chequer-Board Steve Clemons Juan Cole The Corner Crooked Timber Cunning Realist Clive Davis Brad DeLong Democracy Arsensal Ross Douthat Daniel Drezner Kevin Drum James Fallows Glenn Greenwald Nikolas Gvosdev Hendrik Hertzberg Huffington Post Innocents Abroad Mickey Kaus Mark Kleiman Joshua Landis Daniel Larison Josh Marshall Eric Martin Obsidian Wings Oxblog Foreign Policy's Passport The Plank Post Global Gideon Rachman Red State Romenesko Laura Rozen Andrew Sullivan James Taranto Katrina vanden Heuvel Volokh Conspiracy James Wolcott Matthew Yglesias
Columnists
Anne Applebaum
Tony Blankley David Broder David Brooks Roger Cohen Jackson Diehl Maureen Dowd Thomas Friedman Bob Herbert Fred Hiatt Jim Hoagland Richard Holbrooke David Ignatius Robert Kagan Michael Kinsley Charles Krauthammer Nicholas Kristof Paul Krugman Howard Kurtz Sebastian Mallaby Robert Novak The Reliable Source Frank Rich Mark Steyn John Tierney John Vinocur Washington Whispers George Will
Think Tanks
Law & Finance
Barron's
Bloomberg Bruce MacEwen Bull and Bear Wise CBS Marketwatch Contrary Investor Corporate Counsel Blog Corp Law Blog D.C. Toedt DealBreaker Deal Lawyers Blog Financial Sense Forbes Fortune Hussman Funds Gretchen Morgenson Floyd Norris Safe Haven SCOTUS Blog The Street 10b-5 Daily Yahoo Finance
Security
Books
The City
Curbed
Gawker Lockhart Steele NY Magazine Nick Denton NY Post NY Press New York Observer On The Inside Tribeca Trib Walk Through Village Voice
Archives
October 2007
September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 Syndicate this site:
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|||
|
||||
