Graduate of the von Clauswitz-Freud School of Psychology (Diploma available on the back of your Cereal Box)
One of the first things I realized when visiting Iraq after the U.S. invasion was that the very fact that Iraqis did not liberate themselves, but had to be liberated by Americans, was a source of humiliation to them. It’s one reason they never threw flowers. More... When someone else has to liberate you in your own home, that is humiliating — and humiliation, I believe, is the single-most underestimated force in international relations, especially in the Middle East.
That also helps explain why Iraqis initially never took ownership of their governing institutions, like the Coalition Provisional Authority, or C.P.A. They never fought for it. It was handed to them. People have to fight and win their own freedom, and that’s what gives their institutions legitimacy.
Must be the same school that gave John "drilling for manly confidence" McCain his diploma:
"Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial."Who knew that its all about the psychology? I thought God was on the side of the big guns? Now it turns out that God is just sitting behind us listening to us complain about our feelings and doodling on one of those little pads. I would definitely have run the war differently, if I'd known it was all about the feelings.
|