S*M*A*S*H*E*D
March 6th 2007 01:36
My father was always an outspoken advocate of seat belts. A Navy vet who was very familiar with landing on carriers, he insisted in everyone belting up before moving the car. "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."
It would seem like basic common sense to plan for the worst-case scenario- that way, any surprises will likely be pleasant ones. Even when things go worse than your own worst-case, at least you've prepared to some extent, and are in a better position to cope than if you had no plans at all.
Aside from the actual invasion itself, virtually all the stupidities involved in the Iraq war stem from a relentless, insane refusal to make even the most basic plans. The NeoCon party line was that we would simply topple Saddam's government and then the grateful Iraqis would shower our troops with rose petals and democracy would spontaneously erupt.
Okay, so they were close; just replace "rose petals" with "IEDs," and "democracy" with "civil war," and the NeoCons came close ("Close" in the sense that Rigel is close to Earth, if you compare it to the distance to another galaxy). We didn't plan for the fact that even the Iraqis who didn't like or support Saddam wouldn't necessarily want to be occupied by a foreign army. We didn't plan for an extended occupation at all, and we certainly didn't plan for the basic fact (that every person who knew anything about the Middle East knew) that Sunnis and Shiites really, really really don't like each other.
Now the Army's premier hospital for treating wounded veterans is in the news- and not in a good way. Basic common sense would have said to put funds and energy into improving the hospital's services and care before the war, since during and after we would have a much greater need for it. Now that the conditions there have deteriorated to the point of becoming newsworthy, now our so-called "leaders" are looking at the situation. No matter your position on the war, our people in uniform deserve far better.
No doubt the hearings will stretch out for weeks if not months; that seems to pass for a "plan" in Washington.
It would seem like basic common sense to plan for the worst-case scenario- that way, any surprises will likely be pleasant ones. Even when things go worse than your own worst-case, at least you've prepared to some extent, and are in a better position to cope than if you had no plans at all.
Aside from the actual invasion itself, virtually all the stupidities involved in the Iraq war stem from a relentless, insane refusal to make even the most basic plans. The NeoCon party line was that we would simply topple Saddam's government and then the grateful Iraqis would shower our troops with rose petals and democracy would spontaneously erupt.
Okay, so they were close; just replace "rose petals" with "IEDs," and "democracy" with "civil war," and the NeoCons came close ("Close" in the sense that Rigel is close to Earth, if you compare it to the distance to another galaxy). We didn't plan for the fact that even the Iraqis who didn't like or support Saddam wouldn't necessarily want to be occupied by a foreign army. We didn't plan for an extended occupation at all, and we certainly didn't plan for the basic fact (that every person who knew anything about the Middle East knew) that Sunnis and Shiites really, really really don't like each other.
Now the Army's premier hospital for treating wounded veterans is in the news- and not in a good way. Basic common sense would have said to put funds and energy into improving the hospital's services and care before the war, since during and after we would have a much greater need for it. Now that the conditions there have deteriorated to the point of becoming newsworthy, now our so-called "leaders" are looking at the situation. No matter your position on the war, our people in uniform deserve far better.
No doubt the hearings will stretch out for weeks if not months; that seems to pass for a "plan" in Washington.
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Comment by MelissaA
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