George Bush and Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring discussed war with an American journalist, shortly before his suicide. It was his view that the population of a country can always be led into war, even against their better judgment. And he should know - after all, the Nazis did just that, with calculated manipulation. Here is the relevant passage in full:

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Note how relevant this is to America's attach on Iraq. President Bush led the country into war using just this technique. And even added to it - after all, he never bothered with the congressional part.

In modern times, a comparison with the Nazis is anethema, and usually the end of a discussion. That is a shame - remember the old saying "those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it". An uneducated populace, unaware of how cynical leaders can manipulate it, is ripe for the plucking.

Of course, it's still not clear what George Bush and company were seeking in Iraq.

• It wasn't oil - else he would have secured the oil fields first thing.
  
• It wasn't terrorists - Iraq was just about the only country in the area that did not actively support terrorists, being too wrapped up in its own internal affairs.
• It wasn't WMD - there weren't any, and it was obvious to any objective observer that Bush's data was cooked.
• It can't have been to bring democracy to the region - could anyone really be that naive?
• It can't just be that Saddam Hussein was a despicable dictator - there are plenty of those in the world, with Saddam far from the worst.
  

So what was it?