Revelation
by Quinn
PJ O’Rourke was interviewed for The Independent about his latest book …on The Wealth Of Nations, concerning, well, Adam Smith and The Wealth Of Nations. It was an interesting enough article, but it was when the subject turned to O’Rourke’s support for the Iraq War that I was particularly struck. Inquiring into the nature and causes of the current quagmire, he says
It’s amazing that no one seems to have foreseen the wrath, the bitterness and the depth of the anger and violence that followed the war. I never heard anyone predict what has happened. In fairness to all of us idiots everywhere, at least we have plenty of company on this.
As with that other fallacy often voiced by Tony Blair (who?) amongst others, that “everyone believed that there were WMD inside Iraq prior to the war”, the statement that O’Rourke “never heard anyone predict” the current chaos only goes to prove what those of us who opposed the invasion thought all along; that through all the parliamentary debates and televised discussions aired during the run up to the war; when individuals wrote dissenting newspaper articles and millions marched in defiance on the streets of the capital; as weapons inspectors and intelligence analyst presented reports full of doubts and grey areas; and while the anti-war movement put forward a string of arguments against military action; that those in favour of the war had already made up their minds, they had nothing to learn, and they simply weren’t listening.
The Obscurer 
I couldn’t agree more. I read that and also heard him interviewed on a few occasions.
Still, warmongers have been rewriting history since history began.
Are you inspired by Sven and Shinawatra BTW?
PJ O’Rourke’s previous book was called something like Peace Kills; America’s Fun New Imperialism, which must have seemed a right wheeze when Kabul and Baghdad fell in quick succession; with the death toll in Afghanistan and Iraq mounting daily it is seeming sicker and sicker.
I don’t mind Sven; I think much (though not all) of the criticism he received at England was unwarranted, based as it was on the theory that we should have been doing better than we were because we had a golden age of talented world class footballers on our hands. We didn’t, and don’t, and reaching a few quarter finals was actually quite a good return in my opinion. Also, who else were we going to get; Mark Hughes? Chris Coleman? Not inspiring options for me.
As for Shinawatra, the jury is out. I haven’t sold my shares to him (yet), and I have questions about where the money has come from, and about the corruption and human rights charges he faces back home; but they are at the moment just allegations. I just think it is a shame that you seem to need some sort of sugar daddy to get on in the premiership these days; money has always been important, but it used to be more important to have a good manager with some tactical nous and an eye for a good player. More and more that is a secondary factor, and just having a wedge of cash is a prerequisite for climbing up the league table.