Boldness

While reading the SF Chronicle this morning it struck me that the war in Iraq might be the most brilliant idea of our generation (narrowly beating out Pulp Fiction).

9/11 was so bold, we could only react with something more bold. In poker, it's known as a re-raise. Iraq is the re-raise.

Here is a link to Donald Sensing article about the Civil War and what was being fought over. The North was initially fighting to preserve the union and the South was fighting to presevre honor. He connects it to the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the union was losing and the the popularity of the war low, the north figured out that preserving the union didn't stir the north into battle. Instead, what would keep support for the war going was the idea that we were fighting for freedom - the freedom of slaves in the South. This changed the mindset of the north and led US to victory...and because we believed it to be true, it became true. It WAS a fight for FREEDOM. Orsen Welles would be proud.