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Articles:
Politics
The
Fallacy of Blind Conviction
Impeach Bush, Part 1
Monday, March 13, 2006
When
President Bush gets on television and preaches about the way
he always sticks to his guns, it must sound good to a lot
of people. Bush and his supporters like to hail his unwavering
conviction like it's some sort of positive trait. Believing
firmly in your ideals may be admirable. But when your ideals
lead to ruin time and again, you'd think a person would admit
defeat and start to consider alternatives.
Consider
for a moment that you suddenly believe, "hey, I bet I
can put my head through that wall!" You bang your head
against the wall, but it doesn't give. You do however hurt
your head. Regardless, you still believe you can use your
head to break through the wall. So you bang your head against
it again. Still the wall remains firm, while your head does
not. Most people at this point will learn their lesson and
stop. In fact, most people wouldn't try it in the first place.
But let's say you still believe you can do it. So you keep
bashing your skull into the wall. It never breaks, but you
keep pounding on it until your head is a bloody mess. Even
after the paramedics carry your mutilated body to the hospital,
you still profess that, given just a little more time, you
could indeed break that wall.
This
doesn't sound too intelligent. Yet during his entire tenure
as president, Bush continues to perform this senseless feat.
In this real-world scenario, however, he's not using his head
to pound on a wall. He's using the lives and money of Americans
to beat on Iraq.
After
9/11, we invaded Afghanistan to wipe out the Taliban and Al-Qaida
and hunt down the terrorists responsible. This was a noble,
appropriate response and I believe Bush was correct standing
behind this action. In the middle of this operation, however,
our attention was suddenly diverted from this just war to
imaginary threats in Iraq.
Initially,
Bush and his administration claimed Iraq was behind the 9/11
attacks along with the Taliban and Al-Qaida. With this assertion,
our involvement in Iraq seemed as appropriate as our involvement
in Afghanistan. So we invaded. After obliterating all expected
opposition and defeating the Iraqi army, Bush declared "mission
accomplished" and all was once again supposed to be right
in the world. .
After
this, it was revealed that Iraq had nothing to do with the
9/11 attacks. Bi-partisan investigations confirmed this. Bush's
response? "Yeah, well, at least I stick to my guns!"
With that, his ultra-conservative minions cheered. "Screw
those Iraqis, who cares if they didn't attack us, we still
showed them who's boss! USA! USA!"
At
this point it was no longer sufficient for most Americans
to have revenge for the 9/11 attacks as the reason for invasion.
So the administration made up a new reason: Saddam was evil
anyway, and now we're going to rebuild Iraq in our own image.
This still seemed acceptable to the American public. In the
worst case, the administration lied about Iraq in order to
invade. In the best case, they're merely incompetent by failing
to acquire factual information. Regardless of whether Bush
and his administration are liars or idiots, the majority of
American people still loved Bush because, damnit, he's got
conviction and he never gives up.
In
the meantime, the horrors of war became apparent. Americans
soldiers were being killed by the dozens by roadside bombs
and insurgent attacks. Americans, troops and civilians alike,
were being kidnapped and beheaded. The war lagged on, despite
"mission accomplished". Hundreds of Americans kept
dying. Billions of American taxpayer dollars kept getting
wasted. Through it all, whenever questioned about the success
of the war, Bush just kept repeating his famous phrase, "I've
got conviction! We can't give up because of a few setbacks!
We can win this!"
Even
after all the bloodshed, after all the lost money, after all
the destruction, there are still Americans who love Bush and
his blind commitment to a goal that seems unattainable. How
many Americans have to die? How far in debt to the American
people have to go? How many nations and how many Americans
have to oppose this war? Is there any end in sight to all
this? Apparently the administration and their supporters don't
care if it ever ends. "We'll just keep letting Americans
die and keep throwing their money away! We'll keep doing it
long after most reasonable people have given up hope! We'll
throw everything we've got at Iraq until America collapses
from the exhaustion of resources! Because, damnit, we've got
conviction!!!"
Since
when is "conviction" more of a virtue than the preservation
of human life? Is it right to have blind devotion to your
ideals, even when they result in endless death, destruction,
and waste? Isn't it better to admit you were wrong and look
for an alternative approach that preserves life, property,
money and welfare?
America
found itself in this exact situation not too long ago. We
were involved in a war with no clear goal, with no end in
sight. The American public became overwhelmingly in opposition
to this war. Americans protested by the tens of thousands.
Protests turned violent. America itself was embroiled in domestic
turmoil. Most people became opposed the war, yet the leaders
kept pushing on with blind conviction. They had their supporters,
who never conceded that we would lose. But we did. After years
of senseless death, destruction, and waste, we finally removed
ourselves from Viet Nam. To this day, it's remembered by many
as a great travesty in American history. Yet we find ourselves
again in the same situation.
But
damnit, he's got conviction. We could become embroiled in
World War Three. We could have 90% of the nations in the world
against us. We could suffer 90% casualties, be poorer than
Sudan, and have our entire infrastructure collapse, and I
believe the Bush cult would still praise his unwavering commitment
to his goals. Of course we are no where near that dire of
a situation. But if we continue our present course, we could
end up there. Where does the insanity end?
We
should never have invaded Iraq in the first place. I think
that's becoming more apparent to the American people as this
quagmire trudges forward. But we're there now. We can't undo
the past. We can, however, get out as fast as is possible
and practicable. We can cut our losses. We can save the lives
of Americans. We can save their hard-earned tax dollars. Will
we? Not with Bush in power. Not with his administration of
yes-men and his devoted minority of followers who hail his
blind devotion to a senseless cause like some sort of religion.
They don't recognize terms like "cut our losses"
or "admit defeat". In their minds, they can do no
wrong. They will never fail, they will never make mistakes,
and they sure as hell won't ever take responsibility for anything
unless it makes them look good.
Bush
will continue praising his glorious devotion and unwavering
commitment. His disciples will continue to praise him. Meanwhile,
Americans will die, our money will be wasted, and the majority
of Americans will continue to wonder if Bush will ever stop
bashing his head against the wall. I don't think he will.
It will take an involuntary action like the end of his presidency
or his long-overdue impeachment before we can restore sanity
to our foreign policy.
The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged
as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
--James Madison
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
A strong conviction that something must be done is the
parent of many bad measures. --Daniel Webster
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