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Re: [Phys-l] dealing with the media +- evolution



The discussion of Iran's nuclear intentions reminds me of Will Saletan's recent "mea culpa" in Slate wherein he lists eight things he supposedly "learned" from being *so* wrong about Iraq and cheerleading for that incomprehensibly expensive and heartbreakingly counterproductive war.

How Did I Get Iraq Wrong? Rather than bore you with the answer, here are lessons from the experience.
By William Saletan
http://www.slate.com/id/2186955/


To summarize the points relevant to this discussion:

1. Question authority. ... The U.S. government deceived itself and us about the evidence of WMD. ... I learned it the hard way. I hope my kids don't have to go through another dumb war to get the same lesson.

2. Suspicion can become gullibility. ... suspicion can make you credulous. This is what happened to Dick Cheney. He was so suspicious of Saddam that he bought—and spread—rumors, lies, and exaggerations about Iraqi WMD.

3. Beware mission creep. ... Bush's dad had it right in the Gulf War: Right the wrong, punish the offense, and stop.

4. See new evil. ... I never really thought through the chain of events that would fill the power vacuum created by Saddam's ouster. ... Before you take out somebody bad, make sure the result won't be worse.

...

and so on. But after all that, Saletan ends by proving that he learned nothing at all:

8. Consider the opportunity cost. The problem with dumb war ... is that it costs you the military, economic, and political resources to fight a smart war. Everything Bush wrongly attributed to Iraq turns out to be true of Iran.


Sigh.

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona