Pointless Blathering

The more I read comments following articles in the Washington Post or NY Times, the more I fear for the future of this country and, possibly, all of mankind. I think people do not think before commenting.

For example, I read this opinion piece and then read some comments. One of them, offered this bit of "wisdom":

What we have been facing [is] the death of a thousand cuts. So there is no need to say Bush did this, or say Obama did not do that. What we need are some real long range strategies that work.

Long range strategies almost never work. They would work, in all instances, if you could control the actions of all the people involved... from the leaders to the individuals on the front lines... until the strategy is completed. But no one can do that. All we can hope to do is anticipate what our opponents might do and plan accordingly. There is a Murphy's Law that goes "No [battle] PLAN ever survives initial contact."

In WWII, the Japanese had a strategy wherein they would attack Pearl Harbor and the resulting damage to our fleet would set us back 6 months or more, giving them time to gain and keep control of much of southeast Asia and the island nations in the Pacific. Unfortunately, they left us with a few carriers, a bitter taste in our collective mouth, and a huge desire for revenge. It did not set us back 6 months (though it did set us back somewhat); we adapted, we created new strategies, and we fought back. We did not do what the enemy expected. This is the primary lesson of the history of that period.

An old saying goes "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."  But the question is "What should I learn?" If you misinterpret history then you have not learned from it and are doomed to fail.

I do not know what we should have done, nor do I know how things would have turned out had we not invaded Iraq in 2003. I also do not know what things would be today if McCain had won in 2008 or Romney had won in 2012. I only know what things are today with Obama in charge. If George W. Bush had a long range strategy, Obama wouldn't have followed it anyway.