Protracted Wars, Prolonged Deceptions

"The first casualty of War is Truth" - author disputed, truth indisputable

Bush used the occasion of Israel’s 60th birthday to accuse unnamed ‘others’, widely assumed to be Obama, of appeasing terrorists. In Bush’s confused, twisted mind, feeling trumps thinking, posturing beats leading, contrary facts cannot challenge beliefs, and discussion is surrender.

McCain promptly added his own layer of deception. In McCain’s confused, twisted history, Iran released the American hostages on Reagan’s inaugural day because Reagan was strong and Carter was an appeaser. The illogic of this assertion is only apparent if you think (bad) instead of simply believing (good).

In fact, Iran was obviously currying favor with the Reagan administration. That favor was returned when Reagan administration broke American law to sell arms, secretly, to Iran in order to buy arms, secretly, for the Nicaraguan contras. A little further back, Henry Kissinger used 'back channel' (i.e., secret) communications with the South Vietnamese leaders to stymie the Vietnam peace negotiations, where even a hint of progress would’ve probably led to a Humphrey victory over Nixon. These Republicans went way beyond appeasement. I dare call it treason.