filtherton

Thanks, Dunedan. Also, war itself is a perfect example of the government accepting casualties to in the name of enacting policy.

All it takes is for a person in power to accept the notion that it is kosher for them to knowingly send his/her own people to their death in the name of achieving his/her goals. These deaths are justified as being the price one pays to bring about the greater good.

I would expect my government to kill its own people in any situation where there is moderately plausible support for the notion that the greater good could be served by an upfront investment of spilled american blood. Please note that expectation is not the same as agreement or endorsement.

Clearly, the Bush admin had pretty questionable judgment about appropriate ways to invest spilled american blood. I'm not saying that 9/11 was an inside job, just that I wouldn't put it past a bunch of chickenhawk neocons to do the calculations in their head and decide that one teensy-weensy terrorist attack would make a great slide in their "Why we should engage in nation building in the Middle East" powerpoint presentation.