... You don't get do-overs!
Here's Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, telling us now (No End In Sight) about how the whole Iraq disaster is the fault of his superiors - civilian (that is: The President) and military (that is: OH! Commander Of US Forces In Iraq: Umm, that would be Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez!). The General was quite willing to take the job, and do the will of the feckless President George W. Bush, but when the failure becomes undeniable, the General bails out, denies responsibility (Just Following Orders, General?), and points the finger at everyone else. Sorry General, that dog won't hunt. You took the man's salt, you did the work. If the building you built collapses, you're on the hook for it. As Lt.Col. Paul Yingling eloquently points out here: “If the general remains silent while the statesman commits a nation to war with insufficient means, he shares culpability for the results,”
Now, Gen. Sanchez isn't the only bumbling idiot in this Greek Drama. There's plenty of blame to go around. In fact, just as in the plays of Aeschylus, it seems there's blame enough for everyone - even the Gods. Perhaps, looking at this Tragedy from the outside, it's really more of a Comedy. A wierd comedy, certainly. Maybe it wasn't written by Aeschylus. Perhaps it was Aristophanes'. With the main character wearing a Giant Phallus attached to his fly. If so many people weren't dying from the play, it would have to be called a comedy. Now I suppose we have to await the entrance of Lysistrata.
Here's Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, telling us now (No End In Sight) about how the whole Iraq disaster is the fault of his superiors - civilian (that is: The President) and military (that is: OH! Commander Of US Forces In Iraq: Umm, that would be Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez!). The General was quite willing to take the job, and do the will of the feckless President George W. Bush, but when the failure becomes undeniable, the General bails out, denies responsibility (Just Following Orders, General?), and points the finger at everyone else. Sorry General, that dog won't hunt. You took the man's salt, you did the work. If the building you built collapses, you're on the hook for it. As Lt.Col. Paul Yingling eloquently points out here: “If the general remains silent while the statesman commits a nation to war with insufficient means, he shares culpability for the results,”
Now, Gen. Sanchez isn't the only bumbling idiot in this Greek Drama. There's plenty of blame to go around. In fact, just as in the plays of Aeschylus, it seems there's blame enough for everyone - even the Gods. Perhaps, looking at this Tragedy from the outside, it's really more of a Comedy. A wierd comedy, certainly. Maybe it wasn't written by Aeschylus. Perhaps it was Aristophanes'. With the main character wearing a Giant Phallus attached to his fly. If so many people weren't dying from the play, it would have to be called a comedy. Now I suppose we have to await the entrance of Lysistrata.
1 comment:
People should read this.
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