The Wise Men Of/At The Helm on Iraq—Whole Lotta Shruggin’ Goin’ On

Posted on 2nd May 2008 | 1 Comment

 

“ Naturally, the wise men of Helm never dreamed that the world looked upon them as fools until one day Berel the Beadle left the town to journey to Shedlitz. There, for the first time, a Helmite learned what the world thought of Helm. Hardly able to believe his ears, Berel hurried home in alarm to report to Mottel the Mayor. Frantically, Mottel called a Town Meeting, and for seven days, and seven nights, the leading citizens of Helm thought and thought and thought. On the seventh night of the seventh day, when their brows were wrinkled as prunes, Mottel suddenly shot up from his seat, exclaiming, ‘Why didn’t I think of it before! It’s simple. We Helmites aren’t fools. It’s just that foolish things are always happening to us.’  

Diana West exposes and eviscerates the various Wise Men of Helm who charted the fateful US course in Iraq. Offering (quite literally!) little more than shrugs to the most penetrating and relevant questions posed to them at a Hudson Institute forum this week, West comments aptly,

 

In other words, to these men, there would seem to be nothing new worth pondering, for instance, about  the havoc Islamic ways wreak on Western-style nation-building.

 

And in the end just a whole lotta shruggin’ goin’ on:

 

I got one of those answers myself, at least from Mr. Feith. I asked: What did these gentlemen think the U.S. would ultimately get out of Iraq in exchange for our massive investment of blood and treasure? And had they learned anything to make them doubt the president’s often repeated promise that Iraq would become an “ally” in the “war on terror?” Shrug. Not interested in answering.Looking back, there was a narrowness in the scope of discussion that time constraints alone can’t explain. It was as though the men believed every clue to heartbreak in Iraq could be found in the chain of events as they had already occurred-in papers already generated, debates already argued, rounds of infighting already waged, decisions already executed. In other words, to these men, there would seem to be nothing new worth pondering, for instance, the havoc Islamic ways wreak on Western-style nation-building.

Shrug.
 
 
 

 

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