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I No Longer Believe ...
24 Jul 2007 08:15 pm
Rod Dreher asks what certainties people have abandoned these past few years in Iraq. His list:
1. Having been absolutely certain that the war was the right thing to have done, and that we would prevail easily, I am no longer confident that I can discern when emotion is affecting my judgment unduly.
2. I no longer implicitly trust governmental institutions, including the military -- neither in their honesty nor their competence.
3. I no longer believe the Republican Party is superior in foreign policy judgment to the Democrats.
4. I no longer have confidence in the ability of our military, or any military, to solve deep cultural and civilizational problems through force alone. I mean, I thought nothing could stand in the way of the strongest military fielded since the days of ancient Rome. No more.
5. I have a far greater appreciation for how rare and fragile liberal democracy is, and a corresponding revulsion at the American assumption that it's the natural state of mankind. Which is to say, the war has made me rethink my ideas about human nature, and I'm far more pessimistic now than I ever was.
Yours? I'm going to think about mine.
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Ten Times Wrong
Excerpt: Now THIS is a discussion topic! Rod Dreher, formerly of National Review, has penned a column listing the ideas he had on 9/11 which have been changed, if not reversed, by the current disaster in the Middle East. Heres his list. 1. Having been ...
Weblog: RightThinking from the Left Coast
Tracked: Jul 24, 2007 11:04:05 PM
"Serious People" and the Iraq War
Excerpt: Rod Dreher writes that since the war in Iraq began, he is no longer confident he can separate his emotion from his judgment, place implicit trust in government institutions, assume the Republican Party is better on foreign policy than the
Weblog: Steven White
Tracked: Jul 24, 2007 11:50:09 PM
