Willravel

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you*already know or believe, and new information or interpretation. It therefore occurs when there is a need to accommodate new ideas, and it may be necessary for it to develop so that we become "open" to them. If someone is called upon to learn something which contradicts what they already think they know — particularly if they are committed to that prior knowledge*— they are likely to resist the new learning. If learning something has been difficult, uncomfortable, or even humiliating enough, people are not likely to admit that the content of what has been learned is not valuable. To do so would be to admit that one has been "had", or "conned". It's a social disorder on a pandemic scale.

The last post put the information together quite nicely.
This war is currently a failure. I reccomend not glazing over host's post above, as it contains a wonderful example of how public opinion does not reflect reality. We were so hurt by 9/11 and we were so ready to lash out in response. We struck out at a government with no ties to 9/11 and we killed many civilians there, not to mention losing many loyal and honorable servicepeople. Iraq, as it was before we invaded them, was not a threat to the United States of America.

People read posts like ManX's above in which it clearly points out that Cheny predicted that the Iraqi troops would step aside. They did not openly predict that this would be difficult and would cost so many American lives. They did not predict a rebellion. They did not predict so many casualties on our side. These are truths. Accept them, or deny reality.