Three Deadly War Myths

[Donnachaidh]

http://consortiumnews.com/2011/06/09/three-deadly-war-myths/

Exclusive: The U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have involved myths pleasing to Official Washington — about its own wisdom and the evil of the enemy – but these false narratives have caused President Barack Obama and other U.S. policymakers to base decisions on illusion rather than reality. Robert Parry examines three of these deadly myths.

When a nation as powerful as the United States bases policy on bogus history, it can become a grave danger to others and to itself. Yet, that is what now goes on daily in Official Washington, with senior officials routinely citing false narratives and elite journalists accepting myths as truth.

Take for example one of the favorite “lessons” from the recent past: that in 1989, as soon as the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, the United States foolishly turned its back on that central Asian nation setting the stage for the rise of the Taliban in the mid-1990s and for al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks in 2001.

This “history” was cited again on Wednesday by President Barack Obama’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan C. Crocker. In testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Crocker said the supposed U.S. abandonment of Afghanistan in 1989 had “disastrous consequences” and “we cannot afford to do so again.”

More at the link --

[gratuitous]

1. The Myth of Redemptive Violence necessarily depends on myth

And not the kind of myth that conveys deep truth through other means. One of the central myths of the High Church of Redemptive Violence is that violence will overcome violence. Point out the patent absurdity of the proposition, and you will likely be treated to a lengthy disquisition about how long non-violent methods take, how uncertain the results of non-violence are, and how expensive it can be. All without the least trace of irony.

[ixion]

2. k/r

"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." - Albert Einstein.