[quote=pri_dk]
You are a master of “semantic drift” – taking a particular word and changing it as the conversation moves along. Upthread you questioned my comment about the us being engaged in the war prior to Pearl Harbor; several posts later you have rephrased it to “when was the US actively participating in hostilities?”
But I do like your use of the term “ill-considered” as a euphemism for “completely fucking wrong.” Because I’m sure that’s what you really wanted to say above.
I think that particular substitution may be appropriate in many contexts, but not this one.
As for the Iraq war and the events that lead up to it: It all comes down to simple common sense. We either knew that Saddam had no viable NBC weapons programs, or else our massive intelligence apparatus (and it’s massive budget) was a total failure.
When it comes to explanations of government folly, I tend to favor incompetence over malice, but I think the Iraq war was an exception. It was a power/money grab – nothing more. Every other explanation is just rationalization.[/quote]
Pri: Dude, if I wanted to say “completely fucking wrong”, I would have said exactly that. Words mean things and, as the nuns taught me, precision and concision are key in expressing one’s self. You either fail to pick the right word(s), or you do pick the right word(s) and then back water by attempting to say you meant something else.
As far as massive failures of intelligence go: As a former Army officer, I cannot even believe I’m hearing this from you. They’re the norm, not the exception. The CIA’s HUMINT failings and over-reliance on ELINT and SIGINT are well-known and well-documented (Tet Offensive, anyone?).
Hussein not only had a well-developed chem- and bio-weapons capability, he had used it before and inflicted tens of thousands of casualties in so doing. You can assert the familiar neo-con conspiracy argument, but that runs into trouble when you look at the facts and facts from sources outside of the US and the US intelligence community (a point I made above).
So, no, pri, I didn’t mean to say anything other than what I did say. Which remains a constant in my postings, unlike yours.
