Personal, Not Business

Bill Moyer's broadcast "Buying The War" left me with a simple conclusion. In the lead-up to the Iraq War, journalists, like many Americans, were not able to separate their emotions about 9/11 from their duty to be impartial and skeptical.
Even now, when I see video of the World Trade Center falling down, I feel like I want to kill somebody. But then I take an important second step. I take a deep breath and think, "Okay, keep your head."

I know journalists are required to do this every day, but the emotions after 9/11 were running at such a fever pitch, that many of us did not keep out heads. Making things challenging for all of us, is the fact that the government's initial response was completely logical. The invasion of Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban, who had a clear connection to terrorists, made complete sense. It was required for the business of protecting America.

It was when the government decided to use America's feelings of patriotism and anger for personal reasons, that everything began to go wrong. The invasion of Iraq was on the personal agenda of people running our government. Our emotions (including journalists) were exploited for the wrong reason.

I can't help but think if Vito Corleone had been running the country at the time, he would have understood that the Taliban needed to be whacked, but invading Iraq would be a mistake. America may have been better off today, because, of course, protecting America from terrorists isn't personal - it's strictly business. And it will be for a long time.