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Hadrian said 03/27, 04:10 AM
Now that we've done it, it was clearly the right choice. THAT, sir, is a scientific FACT! Why, even monkeys and 4 year olds would agree with you.

Dick Cheney in Baghdad to celebrate the the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is STILL talking about the still missing WMD!

Self-delusion, the result of what's called cognitive dissonance, has been demonstrated over and over by researchers who have come up with increasingly elaborate explanations for it. Psychologists have suggested we hone our skills of rationalization in order to impress others, reaffirm our moral integrity and protect our self-concept and feeling of self-worth.

Researchers at Yale now report finding the first evidence of cognitive dissonance in monkeys and in a group in some ways even less sophisticated, 4-year-old humans.

Yup. Once a decision has been made like invading Iraq, second-guessing may just interfere with more important business - like planning the invasion of Iran!

Hadrian said 03/27, 02:47 PM
This debate is not about whether invading Iraq ranks in a top ten list of America's best decisions. It is about whether invading was the right choice among all the other means of dealing with Iraq.

It was not the right choice and there is ample evidence that we should regret doing so. But Bush and Cheney still believe that invading Iraq was better than not invading. They still believe that fighting the then non-existant al-Qaida in Iraq was better than sending these troops to Afghanistan, our now forgotten, and also failing, war.

I argue that "cognitive dissonance" explains why Bush said last week that "the terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad also want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities". He is still trying to link the war in Iraq to the attacks of Sept. 11. He still believes that al-Qaida is "the enemy" in Iraq. In other words, Bush and Cheney (who still believes in the Iraqi WMD) are delusional.

I can not "seriously state that the U.S. decision to invade Iraq was the...best-est". But I can sarcastically state it, in the voice of a 4 year old. So, I have done so. And its was the BEST-EST way to SAY it too! EVER!

Hadrian said 04/23, 04:18 PM
The point of this debate and the science behind it seems to escape you. Let me break it down. People make a decision. Once they do, they strongly believe it was the right decision, even when presented with evidence to the contrary. That phenomena has been found in monkeys and 4 year olds as well as mature humans. It's know as cognitive dissonance, rationalization or simply, self-delusion.

You want to be a businessman, ilmaestro90? Learn the concept of "sunk costs". It is money you have spent that can not be recovered, no matter how much more good money you throw in after bad. Economics says that a rational actor does not let sunk costs influence one's decisions.

If Bush & Company can not be rational about the mistake of invading Iraq, how then can they be rational in assessing the benefits and costs of continuing this occupation? Or even worse, expanding the armed conflict to Iran!

We rationalize in order to impress others, reaffirm our moral integrity and protect our self-concept and feeling of self-worth. But are those more important than the lives of our brave fighting men & women in Iraq?