Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/21/bush.iraq.speech/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI CS/08/21/bush.iraq.speech/index.html</a> Believe it or not, Bush will actually validate those of us saying that Iraq is like Vietnam by making the comparison himself. On top of that, according to CNN, he'll also quote Osama bin Laden in his speech tomorrow. Is Bush really that insulated that he still thinks most of us still buy this nonsense about Iraq and Al Qaeda being the same thing? And he really is going to imply that we should've stayed in Vietnam? Somebody get the man Stanley Karnow's book on Vietnam, stat!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Or Barbara Tuchman's. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0345308239#customerReviews" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ ct/customer-reviews/0345308239#customerReviews</a> From one review (itself taking from the book): "wooden-headedness," which (page 7) ". . .consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts." It reflects what psychologists refer to as "confirmation bias," the tendency to accept data consistent with one's views and reject information not compatible with preexisting perspectives." Sound familiar?
Originally Posted By ecdc It sure does. What I took away from Karnow's book was an appreciation of just how different Vietnamese culture was from ours. I put that book down thinking that "winning" would've meant killing almost every man, woman, and child because whether or not what we wanted for Vietnam was good for the country was a minor concern to the people compared to the view that foreign invaders were taking over their homeland. We face the same thing in Iraq. What we want for Iraq will probably make the country better - but all many Iraqis care about is that we're there, period. So many try and kill us, we retaliate, killing them, which in turn gets more Iraqis opposed to us. It's a cycle we cannot stop militarily.
