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A Christmas Wish

(This opinion from 2006 still holds true for me. I wrote it the December before my son, seen here that Christmas, began his first tour in Afghanistan as a soldier.)

Our nation’s great failures in the name of democracy have resulted from ignorance and from hubris. We habitually tempt failure by assuming that the first wish of good people everywhere is for a voice in their government; we vainly assume that we have a reserve of unassailable goodness that will ultimately overcome all obstacles. The first wish of those who are suffering is often to be left alone with something to eat, and they don’t know us well enough to buy into our societal dreams for them.

Americans should have withheld their support for Iraq invasion, but a wicked confluence of events caused us––even the cautious among us––to go along with the radical plan. The main events were: recent, assumed toppling of the Taliban, the memory of effective expulsion of Saddam from Kuwait, the memory of our near zero-casualty Bosnia involvement, and our continued rage over 9/11.

Though we were abused by disinformation during run-up, we were wrong to go along. We could be excused, nonetheless, for wishing to be active in our own defense. Our leaders had been wrong and naive about the dangers of the Taliban’s 1990s haven for terrorists in Afghanistan. In hindsight, we should have been marshalling international indignation and planning strategic military intervention more comprehensive than lobbing the odd cruise missile. But we felt safe then, protected by vast oceans and by our self-image as beacon of liberty.

It is a hard to picture, then, how we will do better next time. We choose our course in crisis with much emphasis on our current prejudice, current political judgment and eternal fantasies about our moral and military superiority. It is likely, therefore, that the wrong lessons will be drawn by Americans and by our future leaders––whether or not goodness eventually prevails in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We can only hope that, as in key moments of some of our history, inspired national leadership will show itself, in spite of our often-undeserving ways. It makes a good Christmas wish, anyway, for this year and many to come.

Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:40AM by Registered CommenterCoEternity | CommentsPost a Comment

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