** 22-Sep-2019 World View: What happens when idiots run Mideast policy
In 2006, the Congressional Quarterly published the results of an
informal survey of Mideast experts, to see what they knew. It turns
out that so-called "experts" of many years couldn't answer the
simplest question. The one I remember the best was that the long-time
experts couldn't answer whether al-Qaeda was a Sunni or Shia
organization, but most of them thought that al-Qaeda was a Shia
organization. This was the case with both Republicans and Democrats.
So that's when I first learned that most "experts" in Washington and
in the media are idiots. The London Times did a similar survey,
showing the British media and politicians were also idiots.
** Guess what? British politicians and journalists are just as ignorant as Americans
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... m#e070114b
In 2006, the idiots in the mainstream media thought that the Iraq war
was like Vietnam War. NBC News were the biggest idiots of all,
putting on a big dog and pony show, declaring that it was official NBC
News policy that the Iraq war was a civil war, like the Vietnam War,
so the "surge" would fail. These people were too stupid to understand
that the Iraq war being fought by Iraqis versus foreign fighters from
Jordan and Saudi Arabia, so it wasn't a civil war.
** News as theatre: NBC announces it will call Iraq war a 'civil war'
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e061129
** Iraqi Sunnis are turning against al-Qaeda in Iraq
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... 070401.htm
The Democrats, especially Barack Obama, were extremely humiliated
when the "surge" worked. Then they turned to the Afghanistan war,
and decided that a "surge" would work there as well. They were
too stupid to understand that while al-Qaeda in Iraq were external,
invading jihadists, the Taliban in Afghanistan were internal
jihadists, so the "surge" had no chance of working in Afghanistan.
In other words, while the idiots in 2006 believed stupidly that the
Iraq war was like the Vietnam war, the idiots in 2009 believed
stupidly that the Afghan war was like the Iraq war. This gives new
meaning to the old saying, "The politicians are always fighting the
last war."
** Barack Obama endorses growing American troop force in Afghanistan
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e080721
** India is on high alert as synchronized bombs strike two cities
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e080730
** American army general warns of imminent defeat in Afghanistan war
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e090926
It's clear that all the people in the media and the Obama
administration in 2009 were idiots, and had no clue what was going on
in Afghanistan. I doubt that many of them could even find Afghanistan
on a map. You don't actually have to know anything to become an
"expert." You just have to be pretty. The Obama administration was
just as clueless at the end as it was in the beginning.
As I've written many times, it was clear that Donald Trump was just as
clueless as Obama, and therefore his administration's decisions would
be made by idiots as well. But much to my surprise, Steve Bannon
became his principal advisor, and Bannon does know what's going on in
the world. With Bannon gone, John Bolton was the only person left in
Washington who knew what was going on.
** 11-Sep-19 World View -- Donald Trump fires John Bolton over Afghanistan 'Peace Negotiations'
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e190911
Now with Bolton gone, it's increasingly clear that the Trump
administration's foreign policy is being run by idiots, the same kinds
of idiots as in the Obama administration.
In the last few weeks, Trump's policies have flip-flopped inexplicably
in Afghanistan and Iran. It looks to me that Trump is applying "The
Art of the Deal," but without the historical understanding that he
applied in other areas, like North Korea and China. There is no
sensible strategy that I can discern. I attribute this to the firing
of Bolton.
Maybe I'm judging too quickly. So, I'll be watching, but today it
looks like the idiots are in full charge again in Washington.
