As usual, surfing the web instead of working, (well it is Sunday morning and I worked yesterday), I came across this article, from which I merely quote the following selections, (sometimes quoted from elsewhere):
The rightie approach to national security is what I call the “bison herd stampede strategy.” A big herd of terrified, stampeding American bison generates huge, destructive force, but it’s got no brain. And the herd is as likely than not to stampede right over a cliff.
But the alternative is also presented as "Bush or nothing". Remember Mrs Thatcher and "there is no alternative".
From a Taoist/martial arts perspective, the U.S. has made every possible mistake in the “war on terror.” We’re like the big, dumb, muscle-bound brute that Jackie Chan whips every time. Wu Wei looks like “doing nothing” to some people, but it’s just the “nothing” that needs to be done.
Today, nearly every general that testifies before Congress claims that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan do not have purely military solutions. This sea change means that many members of the military and progressives are philosophically much closer than either believes and they are both hurt by the lack of meaningful interaction. Understanding and aligning with the military around shared concerns could be a crucial new strategy for the left.
My Greek colleague sometimes gets frustrated with my wait and see approach to what we have to do. Not a lot of time, many people to consult, we may not get what we need from them. How to do a good job? But I just shrug. In the end we will solve the problem as best we can. This is not a desk job. We are well prepared. "When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears".
In this job I have learnt that time often solves problems. I go away for the summer leaving a big conflict over policy, and come back to see that people have shifted their point of view enough to solve the problem. Also unexpected things happen. One summer, data on a nuclear power plant collected over the summer convinced everyone that maybe it was not a bad idea to close the older reactor.
Of course when there are deadlines it is not so easy.
