Jim Henley Is Smarter (or at least as smart as) You By: Mark W Adams

Someone who got Iraq Right!

I could tell the difference between the government and the country. People who couldn’t make this distinction could not rationally cope with the idea that American foreign policy was the largest driver of anti-American terrorism because it sounded to them too much like “The American people deserve to be victims of terrorism.” I could see the self-interest of the officials pushing for war - how war would benefit their political party, their department within the government, enhance their own status at the expense of rivals. Libertarianism made it clear how absurd the idealistic case was. Supposedly, wise, firm and just American guidance would usher Iraq into a new era of liberalism and comity. But none of that was going to work unless real American officials embedded in American political institutions were unusually selfless and astute, with a lofty and omniscient devotion to Iraqi welfare. And, you know, they weren’t going to be that.

(H.T. Ezra)

Actually, buried deep in this delicious piece is the real reason we went to war ... "And many feared that if the United States did not go to war, it might make some hippie, somewhere, happy."

That line alone is worth the trip.