Wait for it

It's coming and I'm certain of it. You can hear the rumblings in the distance. Their egos can't take it. All the blustering, all the hot air, all of the self righteous indignation won't allow them to face the facts. Polls are showing that Americans are now loathed by many peoples of the world. In Afghanistan this weekend a traffic accident involving American troops sparked the worst rioting since the days of the Taliban. Speaking of the Taliban, they're still around and are re-forming and have become a force to be reckoned with once again as they take on troops occupying Afghanistan. Of course, the news from Iraq hasn't changed in months - Americans and British troops continue to occupy that country amidst an insurgency that continues to grow while the country attempts to avoid a worsening civil war.

What will be the response from the true believers of the war? What will the ones who dare not admit catastrophic errors say to what is happening? As I said, you can hear the rumblings; you won't have to wait long. Expect this response: outrage at the ingrates. Yes, they will attack those that we allegedly went in to save as being ungrateful for our "help". They are already pointing out that the world for the Afghanis and Iraqis would have been far worse if we left Hussein and the Taliban in place. Next they will declare that these people that we've "helped" don't appreciate our assistance, probably due to their incredible ignorance.

Yes, the true believers, will play the blame the victims game. They will not speak of the errors committed along the way - not the big ones, at least. They will not accept responsibility for the policies that they have executed, the propaganda that they have spewed the brought our nations to this place of plummeting reputations. The true believers, despite their rhetoric to the contrary, do not accept personal responsibility - that is for others - the righteousness of their cause provides them with the freedom to ignore such droll concepts as consequences. True believers will never accept that their saber rattling may have made the world more dangerous, it certainly is for the troops serving overseas, and will have ultimately provided a respite for the Afghanis similar to the one that the Soviets provided in the 80s. True believers will not allow comparisons to the Crusades of old and therefore not appreciate the backlash that they have loaded.

No, true believers will simply state that their intentions were twisted and misunderstood. They will say that they attempted to help a people and a world, but that the world was too stupid to know what was being offered. True believers will then announce that it is time to get out, close our borders, ignore when the world comes a knockin' again, and make the world beg for our help next time - we might offer it then, maybe. True believers will ignore our lack of planning, our lack of focus, our cultural ignorance of the lands we ostensibly wanted to protect, our ignorance of historical precedent, our simplistic vision, Abu Ghraib, the massacres of civilians (time and again), destruction of means of support (poppy crops, for instance), and more. True believers will merely cry, "Idiots!" and take their ball home to pout.

Wait for it...it's coming...you won't have to wait long...I promise. Maybe the Iranians will be smart enough to accept what we have to offer?