America’s brain hurts
The problem with Iraq “warriors” like McCain is that they want to convince the American people that we have simultaneously won in Iraq (America Fuck Yeah!) and lost (Terrorists can take over at any moment and follow you home to kill your dog!) for all eternity. No wonder he was trumpeting the “100 years” line – because it fits right into this idea. “We are kicking ass in Iraq and we will be kicking ass for the next century or more! Fuck Yeah!”
The thing is, I think this cognitive dissonance isn’t sustainable. It’s lasted for years, because like the bully who finally gets his nose bloodied, we’ve been shell-shocked. But it seems we might be waking up. “War is peace” and “freedom is slavery” are tough concepts for the human brain in the long term. Fool me twice, indeed.