President Bush’s decision to increase the number of troops we’ve got on the ground in Iraq, against what poles show to be over whelming opposition from the American people, brings up some interesting questions. What amount of worth can be placed on public opinion? Does the fact that President Bush’s decision was largely made by military and foreign policy experts whose entire lives have been dedicated to analyzing just such situations make his position more valid, or is the opinion of the American people more important regardless of its precedent?

Right or wrong, the American public have no intellectual merit on which to base such a judgment; but should that play any role in how seriously their voice is taken? While whether or not the voice of the people should be adhered to out of principal rather than merit is up for debate, the fact that such a ridiculous debate could only happen in the political arena isn’t.

It isn’t that politicians aren’t aware of these basic rules that surround human nature, it’s that our system of government encourages that they be ignored. Retaining power and office within a representative democracy has become a race to give voters whatever it is they want, regardless of whether or not what they want is best – and life tells us that what’s best rarely packages itself as something we want. It’s like a mother giving her 6 year-old the choice between eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or broccoli for dinner – he’ll always choose the Reese’s. Just like the 6 year-old, we’ll always choose what we want right now, whether the long-term effects are positive or negative. In this case, we’ll always choose to keep our sons and daughters at home in our arms instead of sending them off to fight a war whose benefits we may not see in our lifetimes.

I can tell you that, right or wrong, Bush's staff - as well as rival generals and diplomats who disagree with the presidents approach - made their decision based on sound analysis, and certainly spent months researching a variety of different options. Not all the experts came to the same conclusion, but they all used a similar method of deduction; time, research and a lifetime of being couped up in a library studying the intricacies of war time foreign policy. On the other hand, the American people reached their conclusion based on a desire to stop seeing soldiers' bodies piled up on CNN. No research, no expertise, just a selfish urge to avoid having to look at bombs go off while they eat their TV dinner.

Are President Bush’s military and foreign policy advisors correct in their decision to escalate our troop presence in Iraq? I’m not sure, and neither are you. There’s one thing I’m sure of – there’s no reason to believe the American people are qualified to make this decision.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

RVN68 said:

	You mistake (or misrepresent) the "noisy few" for the "overwhelming majority". The media plays up the noise makers, not the majority. The last documented "majority" came at the end of the 2004 Presidential election, when George Bush was reelected by a true majority.
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 18, 2008
Votes: +0

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment