MrTia

well, of course, the vaunted clarity of the bush administration is kinda false -- they indulge in a lot of simplistic rhetoric about good vs. evil but the iraq adventure is such an abject failure for that exact reason: the putative "clarity" of the vision that went behind it. they invaded, at least ostensibly, because they were the forces of "good" arrayed against the forces of "evil" embodied in the Baath party, and the idea was that once the evil was eliminated the "good" in the iraqi people was going to rise up and they were going to become like the old frontier american settlers. this over-simplified worldview completely ignored the fact that iraq actually has an exceedingly complicated indigenous culture that can't be simply erased in preference for the kind of culture the american occupation is trying to instill there.

which is to say that bush would have served his nation much better if his worldview were LESS clear, if he and his policymakers were more able to comprehend shades of gray, subtly and ambiguity in their decisionmaking. as it was, they pretty much had a Plan A and when that didn't work, they didn't have a Plan B due to the "clarity" of their "vision" -- so all they're left with now is piling on more and more Plan A until the situation improves, which is plainly never gonna happen.

if the demos try to emulate the republican "clarity of vision" thing, the plight of the country won't improve much even if they're elected. if the american people demand "clarity of vision" of this kind, we'll get the leadership we deserve. we're coming up on difficult and complicated times, and we need leaders capable of nuanced understanding, not leaders who are certain of their own straightforward convictions, regardless of evidence to the contrary.

__________________
The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.
-- Bruce Lee

aceventura3

Cowboy diplomacy may be simplistic, but it is clear.

In some situations (I don't agree concerning Iraq) you are correct and that Cowboy Diplomacy's overly simplistic view of things may not always serve us well. I stated a few times that Bush became fixated on the Iraq issue like a pit bull can get fixated on an object. He needed something (Congress) to snap him out of it, if invading Iraq and occupying the country was and is the wrong thing. Instead Congress gave Bush everything he asked for, complaining all along the way. Bush was predictable and Congress failed - if you think the war was and is wrong. It is pretty simple. Now, if they want a change of course - it is the same - they need to take a stand against Bush. But they won't for some reason. I think the reason is that they lack convictions.

Personally, that is why I have my wife. She is my check and balance. If she were as weak as Congress we would have gotten into all kinds of things that she saved me from with her understanding of "nuances". So in a weird way I agree. Now only if Congress had more will, to stand up against Bush.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

MrTia

it's hard to argue with most of this, i largely agree. there was nothing more frustrating in the runup to the war than watching the dems kowtow to the administration in the war debate -- you could tell they felt otherwise, but were cravenly worried about their seats.

i think a part of it now is the same thing, lacking conviction, but not entirely. it really is a dilemma and an unknown quantity how to get out of iraq now that we're in -- the people who say that pulling out precipitously will cause a bloodbath may be right. then again, the people who say that the american presence there is an aggravating factor and that once the US pulls out the insurgency will lose much of its power and appeal to the population -- that may be true too. so it's hard to come up with a principled policy, there just isn't enough information to make a decision without taking some grave risks no matter which course you choose. like biden sez, there really aren't any good options any more, just more or less bad ones. makes it hard to lurch forward with any sort of clarity or enthusiasm, unfortunately.

__________________
The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.
-- Bruce Lee

Seaver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDitS...om%2Fweblog%2F

Clearly Gore and many Democrats KNEW there were no WMDs. Wait, nevermind.
Clearly the Democrats KNEW there were no terrorist links. Wait, nevermind.
Clearly the Democrats KNEW Saddam was no threat. Wait, nevermind.

They didn't Kowtow to the Republicans, it was the entire Washington Groupthink happening across party lines.

__________________
"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

MrTia

i think it's more like, once that war whoop started building up, you didn't want to be the last politician on your block to yell for saddam's head. war is pretty obviously a political bonanza, as any president who's enjoyed an unearned 90-percent approval rating will tell ya, and when that frenzy gets started everyone wants a piece of the action.

i mean, c'mon. iraq had been languishing under sanctions for 12 years, and condoleezza rice was talking about "mushroom clouds" over the cities of america? as though hussein was somehow going to manufacture a hydrogen bomb and find a way to deliver it halfway across the world? that's an industrial undertaking, everyone who thought about it for more than a few seconds knew it. i never imagined iraq was a threat to the united states, the idea is preposterous. but once that frenzy gets worked up, everyone in the political world with the rare exception of some highly principled characters, hops on.

so the question really is: who worked up the frenzy, and why?

__________________
The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.
-- Bruce Lee