NO HE DIDN”T LIE. NOT HIS CHARACTER. BUT WHAT DOES THAT TELL US? This frustrates

NO HE DIDN”T LIE. NOT HIS CHARACTER. BUT WHAT DOES THAT TELL US?

This frustrates the heck out of me. I know these people. There is no way these people lied. They believed it, just as surely as you believe what you know very little about but are threatened by, and assume you understand. Based upon Iraqi propaganda meant to intimidate the Iranians, based upon fragmentary information, based upon limited on-the-ground intel, and self-interested informants, both historical evidence, rational motives, limited intel, and informants agreed. These are normal conservatives, with high sensitivity to threats, interpreting information within their own system of cognitive biases. They are moral men who were tragically mistaken, and worse, misunderstood the culture they were dealing with: lying, deception, fraud, boisterous nonsensical empty words of a competing tribal people. Caught with a catastrophic error they justified it to themselves and us. What we have since learned is that much of the world is not ready for democracy, and in fact, democracy as we know it, may be a temporary luxury unique to western people in periods of extraordinary prosperity that occur only once every millennium.

Does Nancy Pelosi believe her daily lies? I suspect she does in her own twisted way. Does Barak Obama understand that in his effort to reverse US interference in the world, that he is creating the power vacuum that world wars and falls of civilisations are caused by? I think not. We are all fools, constantly the subject of the pretense of knowledge, the pretense of understanding, fitfully trying to justify our priors.

Of course people had to lie if they made such a ridiculous mistake. But then, everyone who calls them a liar makes the same mistake: propositions made in ignorance in light of hindsight.

Bush may have been many things, but dishonesty is not part of his character. He believes with full and certain faith that history will vindicate him. I suspect he errs. He errs in that there was any possible solution except punishment. Correction and modernization were beyond our abilities, because they were beyond Muslim capabilities.