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Tuchman pointed succinctly to what flows from wooden-headedness:
"Once a policy has been adopted and implemented, all subsequent activity becomes an effort to justify it. " Adjustment is painful. " Psychologists call the process of screening out discordant information "cognitive dissonance,' an academic disguise for "Don't confuse me with the facts.'"
It is somehow fitting that Barbara Tuchman's daughter, Jessica Tuchman Mathews, president of the Carnegie Foundation, has shown herself to be inoculated against "cognitive dissonance."
A January 2009 Carnegie report on Afghanistan concluded in January 2009:
"The only meaningful way to halt the insurgency's momentum is to start withdrawing troops. The presence of foreign troops is the most important element driving the resurgence of the Taliban."
Why would I cite Jessica Tuchman and no other think tanker? It is not because of the wisdom of her historian mother.
It is because Jessica Tuchman and her colleagues at Carnegie were right about the folly of invading Iraq.
In sum, I intend to put an end to wooden headedness with respect to adventures in Asia. I have no interest in quagmires, and I am seeking fresh advice--including from those who were right about Iraq.
As you might imagine, the cost savings are likely to be immense. In any event, they are likely to be more than enough to defray any extra cost that attends the initial stage of real health care reform.
Like the Good Samaritan, if more is needed, we will be able to spend it.
We are going to get health care reform done. And pay for it. Yes, we can.
May God bless America, and God bless the rest of the world too.
This article appeared first on Consortiumnews.com.
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