"It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it." -Robert E. Lee
The Fallibility of Intelligence Gathering:
Following the events of September 11, 2001 the CIA and other intelligent gathering agencies, including those throughout the world, felt a grave amount of pressure to report each and every piece of information in order to avoid a similar catastrophe. Understanding this colossal wave of information overload (or lack of credible information) may help to explain the WMD misstatements involving Iraq. Although, personally, I feel the intent and the previous use of such weapons by Hussein's regime (WMD used against Iran and the northern Kurds) stand as justifiable cause in itself; twelve years of United Nation violations and a number of unsaid violations against humanity, which is just beginning to be fully understood.
Unfortunately, the media is not accountable for mistakes or misstatement it formulates, unlike other agencies that readily protect us from the unforeseen while we comfortably sleep. With that said, there is little room for Monday morning quarterbacking when it comes to safety, which in the end will hopefully prevent the reoccurrence of innocent deaths, justifying the occassional fallibility of intelligence gathering.
Whether one believes Operation Iraqi Freedom was a just war or another devious plot, the fact remains that a tyrant was removed from an area of the world where all his neighbors (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, Iran), either openly or behind closed doors, approvingly rejoiced. History will ultimately judge how all this is remembered. My only hope is that the Middle East can someday experience a form of democracy and freedom equal to what many of us take for granted.
The Troubling Rebirth of Cynicism:
There seems to be a rebirth of cynicism in our societies; continuing down this road of disparagement, generations shamelessly embrace this approach to address all the issues we face and will clearly face in the future. I happen to be one of those people who believes we are all capable of making change and owe it to our forefathers to constructively contribute to the betterment of our societies.
This continued griping, the embittered undertones of blame, and the never ending finger-pointing, solves very little; at very least it fuels jackasses like Michael Moore to win recognition for films full of cleverly edited distortion (Roger & Me, Columbine, Fahrenheit 911). It is an unfortunate affair to witness people that are effortlessly swayed be trendy views or simply confused by a filmmaker who sells a screenplay (Bowling for Columbine) full of polemic inquiries into the American gun culture as a fact finding mission. All this may seem harmless enough, even entertaining to a chosen few (I willingly admit to such leasurely pleasures myself), but in all honesty it continues to feed into this damaging cynicism fueled by fabricated misstatements, which in turn misleads those less inclined to do their own research to embrace one source of entertainment as a fact sheet full of truth while dismissing universal logic for the wonderment of the ill-conceived conspiracy theory. Too much time is spent allowing others to cluttering our minds with absurd nonsense. On a personal level, regarding gun control, I grew up a good part of my life in Alaska where I used guns while hunting wild game. At an early age all my elders taught me the inherent danger of weapons and to respect life. No one on either side of my family, or anyone I know for that matter, has ever been involved in any crime or inappropriate actions concerning guns. I completely acknowledge there exists a problem and hold views on ways to address them. I'm more inclined to agree with scholars like Joseph Campbell who attributes violence to the lack of ethos, while Rollo May believes it stems from the absence of great myths that help young men and women relate to the world or to understand that beyond what is seen.
In our six-second sound bite television raised culture of attention deficit disorder masses, who show little care or knowledge of the history that came before them, and more importantly what certainly lay ahead for our societies if we continue to ignore issues by burying our heads hoping that all that is bad or broken will magically get fixed or go away. The challenge I suppose is to educate one another in the importance of getting involved in making positive contributions; spending less time complaining about the shortcoming of others, understanding that social imperfections exist and the significance of addressing them benefits everyone.
Disclosure:
I would like to point out that I have no affiliation with any political
party. In the past 20 years I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans.
Not because I am one who chooses to be out-side-the-box, but rather because
both parties are infamous for erroneous decisions; whether
Nixon's disgraceful exit stemming from the Watergate cover-up to Clinton's cigar insertion antics made public while a world watched with utter enjoyment as though viewing a TV special.
Equally, both parties have brought great honor to the unforgiving post; Kennedy's speech to the youth of America energizing them to join the Peace Corps to Reagan's sparking personality that brought newfound optimism to a demoralized democracy. There are undoubtedly other historical events worth mentioning. I trust you'll conduct your own research.
In closing, take a position and argue it if you feel such conviction. Always keep in mind that we humans are infallible; those who traveled in the past drew a map of experience for us to draw from in the future. No war in the history of America including the civil war and revolutionary war was won by popular opinion. There are times in history when hard-hitting decisions must be made. Don't foolishly sit on the sidelines waiting for others to come to your aid. You may find the others have their own agenda.
I tip my glass to those whose courage, decisions, and sacrifices allow the rest of us to soundly rest at night.