Yeah, I feel like for some people on the left "war hawk" has become the name for anyone who might ever contemplate using the military for anything, ever.
It was definitely part of the underpinnings, yes. But what got a lot of people to go along with it, iirc, was the "threat" of those non-existent wmds that we now know were nothing but a big fat pack of lies.
I'm not saying the idea of American exceptionalism is 100% non-problematic, by any means (which is why I stuck to the "warhawk" issue and didn't go deeply into the "exceptionalism" issue in my original reply). It's certainly been used as an excuse to justify a lot of things that should never have happened, including the Iraq War. However, in the case of Iraq, it was just that: an EXCUSE that Bush and Cheney used to convince others to go along with something that they wanted to do for their own dastardly reasons. That's what I meant when I said the Iraq War wasn't really "about" American exceptionalism.
I don't think you can so neatly separate their personal motivations from the concept of American exceptionalism. It's deeply embedded in the fabric of American politics. I don't think it was an excuse, but more like the psychological foundation that allowed them to carry out their actions.
Imo, whether or not the Iraq War was "about" American exceptionalism has a lot to do with semantics. I don't think it was "about" that, because I don't think it was the REAL reason Cheney and Bush told us all the lies that led Americans (including Hillary and ALL THE OTHERS in the Senate who voted in favor of the resolution) to go along with the invasion. Was it used as an excuse to "sell" the invasion to the American people? Sure. But was it the REAL reason for the invasion. Hell, no.
I have no idea what "most of the planet" believed, because I was (and am) here in the US. My only frame of reference was this country and what people here believed, so I can't even speak to that.
Aside from the fact that you haven't cited any source(s) for these rather sweeping pronouncements, I don't think there's any way you OR I can possibly know exactly what information those Senators had access to, and I'm really not comfortable speculating on that.
I am not, in general, comfortable making speculations or assumptions based on my own or anyone else's personal impressions, without something factual to back things up. Just so you know.
I'm not going to argue about how much "American Exceptionalism" may or may not have played into it, because that's not an area I have researched enough to feel sufficiently knowledgeable about it (nor do I have time to do so).
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I'm not saying the idea of American exceptionalism is 100% non-problematic, by any means (which is why I stuck to the "warhawk" issue and didn't go deeply into the "exceptionalism" issue in my original reply). It's certainly been used as an excuse to justify a lot of things that should never have happened, including the Iraq War. However, in the case of Iraq, it was just that: an EXCUSE that Bush and Cheney used to convince others to go along with something that they wanted to do for their own dastardly reasons. That's what I meant when I said the Iraq War wasn't really "about" American exceptionalism.
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Imo, whether or not the Iraq War was "about" American exceptionalism has a lot to do with semantics. I don't think it was "about" that, because I don't think it was the REAL reason Cheney and Bush told us all the lies that led Americans (including Hillary and ALL THE OTHERS in the Senate who voted in favor of the resolution) to go along with the invasion. Was it used as an excuse to "sell" the invasion to the American people? Sure. But was it the REAL reason for the invasion. Hell, no.
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(The comment has been removed)
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(The comment has been removed)
I am not, in general, comfortable making speculations or assumptions based on my own or anyone else's personal impressions, without something factual to back things up. Just so you know.
I'm not going to argue about how much "American Exceptionalism" may or may not have played into it, because that's not an area I have researched enough to feel sufficiently knowledgeable about it (nor do I have time to do so).
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
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