<
https://theconversation.com/the-iraq-wars-damage-to-public-trust-in-experts-has-consequences-right-up-to-today-201656>
"Twenty years after the invasion of Iraq, politicians continue to repeat the
errors of the past by taking information from security briefings that they want
to hear.
Ahead of the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation, US and UK politicians
used some of the intelligence gathered by western security agencies to suggest
that the local population would predominantly welcome external military powers
as liberators. But it quickly became apparent this was a mistake and that the
fighting capability of those who would resist had been underestimated. A long
and bloody insurgency followed.
Fast forward to 2022 and we saw Russian president Vladimir Putin acting under
the apparent belief that his conquest of Ukraine would also be simple, and meet
with little resistance from a weak defence force. Western intelligence reports
have since highlighted how Putin and his advisers significantly underestimated
Ukraine and made poor judgements about their own intelligence information.
The public, however, at least in western countries, appears to have become much
more sceptical of politicians armed with intelligence from experts. As well as
the thousands of deaths, trillions of dollars of expense and irreversible
changes to national and international politics, this arguably remains one of
the legacies of the Iraq war."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
