August 1, 2002
Letter
Game Theory
David,Do you think there is ANY possibility that the increasingly insane talk and behavior by the administration re war on Iraq is just to thoroughly confuse, frighten and drive people here and around the world to distraction (distraction being always a favored ploy with this group)? As turmoil grows, and as rage and fear grow in increasingly large elements of resistance to war around the country, I'm starting to wonder: is this a massive propaganda campaign to some unknown end? And I don't mean just to scare Saddam.
The alternative is that the world is watching, wringing its hands, but relying on the belief that surely no one could be so insane as to risk world war for the sake of invading a sovereign country with which it is not at war--just as it did some 60-odd years ago.
L
Dearl L
It does seem like they love to keep everyone as shaken up and confused as possible. That's part of the ongoing M.O. Then within that overall program are specific strategies, but keeping everyone thrown off is a sort of overarching one.
In game theory there is a principle that you always throw in some random stuff to keep your opponent unsure of what you are really doing. They seem to be big on that.
And it works. In the end, we don't know if they are going to attack Iraq or if it's a smokescreen for other crimes. I suspect they will attack. I would be surprised if we get to the end of Bush's term w/o doing that. Daddy's masculinity was insulted and Junior is fighting mad over it.
dc
David,
It occurred to me this morning that the administration has succeeded in creating all over the world what it first created in this country--mass confusion, constant shifting of attention to differing threats, turmoil and fear.
It stirred up the whole pot, got it boiling, and now sets off for a month's vacation. And to wait, for--what? I doubt that they're going to waste all that effort and just let the pot get cold.
You said that "in game theory there is a principle that you always throw in some random stuff to keep your opponent unsure of what you are really doing." In the past few days, because I got so many emails from people asking "what specifically can we do" in my response to my column last week, I've become immersed in a new action group. As we're all frantically emailing, writing, and planning, I'm starting to wonder if someone in the admin is sitting laughing his head off. Or if they're really just trying to force a coup in Iraq and our actions are not only a waste, but possibly harmful. So it's getting very hard to sustain a hard focus against a war--and I guess that means their tactics really work.
L
Dear L
Yes, they do work. But it's hard to tell how long their strategy will work for them. It's hard to tell how much control they really have. They are so reckless. Now that they have riled up the whole world -- like some menacing psycho that comes snapping into a subway car and makes everyone stand very still and hope he doesn't notice them -- the whole world is waiting to pounce if the beast is ever wounded badly enough to be unable to destroy them. The fact that they are making so many enemies -- even in the ranks of American business -- is why I doubt their ability to control what they have started.
I believe that the raw power of democracy will in the end destroy them, at least this group. Even though they have dismantled the legal basis of democracy, the raw power of a motivated majority is a massive power that has felled many empires that didn't have even a semblance of a democratic tradition. One area where this country is still different from Nazi Germany I think is that they still pay lip service to democracy even though they obviously not only don't believe in it but take every action they can to nullify it and invoke autocracy. It hasn't gotten to the point yet where Bush can get up and openly condemn democracy and human rights. It's getting close, but at this point these creeps still have to pretend to believe in it. That inhibits their movements some. They hate that inhibition and are struggling very hard to eliminate every vestige of democracy for good. But the extremism that pushes them always onward toward greater conquest will be what finally arouses the power that will depose them.
David