James P. Pinkerton: Administration tilts at windmills with its misadventur

[kskiska]

One day, this Iraq War will be thought of as the Intellectuals' War. That is, it was a war conceived of by people who possessed more books than common sense, let alone actual military experience.

Disregarding prudence, precedent and honesty, they went off - or, more precisely, sent others off - tilting at windmills in Iraq, chasing after illusions of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and false hope about Iraqi enthusiasm for Americanism, and hoping that reality would somehow catch up with their theory. The problem, of course, is that wars are more about bloodletting than book-learning.

(snip)

And so it is with the book-fed brainiacs who helped talk George W. Bush into the Iraq War. These people are commonly known as neoconservatives, or "neocons" for short, but they are anything but conservative.

(snip)

My hope is that somewhere in Iraq today, an American in uniform is absorbing it all. And so maybe a novel will be written about men and women on a mission, confident in the righteousness of their cause, doing their best, but nonetheless blundering about. That book will be a comedy, in places, but mostly, it will be a tragedy, because there's nothing sadder than sincerity and earnestness misled and betrayed.

more…
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=609&u_sid=800231

[Zo Zig]

1. Thanks kskiska

you find the most interesting articles. Looks as if the Bush types are waking up.

[kskiska]

6. Thanks, Zoe

I thought this one was especially pertinent, as Pinkerton usually allies himself with the Dark Side. If he's saying it…

[teryang]

2. Intellectuals or ideologues?

The failure to clarify this difference reminds me of the Magistrate's sig line. Let's not discredit a whole class based upon a defective subset.

Also, let's not forget that the particular brand of ideology adhered to by the Leninists of the right, the neocons, holds dear the notions of deception and contempt for the masses.

Nevertheless, the Don Quixote exploration works well. Enjoyed the post.

[grasswire]

3. pinkerton has flipped

...and I have respect for him because of that. He used to be on the Bush bandwagon.

[TheBigGuy]

5. He was in the first Bush administratioon

I dont recall why he left...some sort of policy dispute or something.

[TheBigGuy]

4. Pinkerton is himself quite conservative..libertarian wing

I read a book by him that came out way back, before Clinton, I think. He was pretty much pushing the libertarian "markets uber alles" approach to public policy.

He was a White House staffer in the first Bush admin, before he left or was forced out.