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October 22, 2006
If Lies Don't Work Try the Truth
I hate to be so cynical but it's hard to get past the history of misinformation to see a very satisfying context for senior U.S. State Department official Alberto Fernandez' remarks on Al Jazeera.
We tried to do our best (in Iraq) but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq. [New York Times]
I think such a statement is a step in the right direction. It just fails to acknowledge the central error in US Iraq policy. The invasion itself was an error of arrogance, stupidity and, oh by the way, a moral failing. And until we acknowledge that, we cannot hope to find a moral or a satisfactory political way out of this mess of our making.
Update: October 23, 2006
Fernandez now says he "seriously misspoke." My guess is that we have here case of one message for the world and another message of domestic consumption.
Posted by Duane Smith at October 22, 2006 9:13 AM | Read more on Current Events |
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Comments
I hope we will never acknowledge a lie. Freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein was the morally right thing to do. However, I will admit that sometimes something that is the right thing to do for one reason can be the wrong thing for other reasons. It seems now that we do not have what it takes to accomplish our goals and for that reason perhaps we should never have started what we apparently can't finish.
Posted by: Lynn at October 23, 2006 6:23 AM
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