Sunday, September 17, 2006

What do people expect?

Glenn Reynolds :

AUSTIN BAY writes on fiddling and twiddling with Iran. The loss of momentum in the war reminds me of something that I believe Napoleon (or maybe it was Talleyrand) said: "You can do anything with bayonets except sit on them." Much of the problem in Iraq comes from Iran, and we seem curiously unwilling to do much about it. I wonder -- does Iran already have nuclear weapons, and are we being successfully blackmailed?

I know Reynolds is way smarter than me, no contest...but it might just be that there is more going on here than Glenn knows about. Believe it or not George Bush might not feel the need to keep him up to speed on all the latest developments in regards to Iran. Add to that the fact that the American people do not want another war, a military strike...maybe...if they believed it would be successful, but the will is not there for another military conflict right now. I have no doubt that Iran is causing trouble in Iraq, just like they did in Lebanon, but I doubt if the Bushies need anyone telling them that.

Which kind of leads me to wonder, just what do people expect?

3 comments:

Barry Dauphin said...

terrye

I'm afraid there's too much of a video game mentality around. I admire Prof. Reynolds quite a bit, but he succombs to this as much as anyone. He's often touting the latest something or other that promises we will become immortal, as well as retaining our vitality and health. Too often folks are simply reading the papers (blogs, etc.) and not grasping the complexity and difficulty of many of these decisions. GWB has taken huge chances (and has been politically swatted for them), but many want more and more, as if knocking off Iran is something we can do on an Xbox in three hours.

Unknown said...

jb:

I know I know.

Unknown said...

barry:

Yes, I often think Reynolds is sci fi about all that. I have spent enough years with elderly people, for whom just getting out of bed in the morning is a job...to know that there is no miracle drug that will fix all that ails them.

Besides, if we lived forever think of how crowded it would get down here.