The Difference between Iraq and Iran?

We as a country pride ourselves on our intelligent minds, our beautiful democracy, the freedoms that are given to all. Unfortunately that's a rather idealistic view. A large part of America - the people outside the mainstream, hectic life along the coasts, the ones in the heartland, still believes in a simpler world. Here's the chorus to "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" by Alan Jackson, written as a tribute to the victims of 9/11. It reflects the general knowledge people have about world affairs - and it ain't pretty:

I'm just a singer of simple songs;
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I'm not sure I can tell you the difference
in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, Hope and Love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is Love.

This is the sort of thing the people believe in - simplicity, God, and conservative news channels. Combined they give a rather narrow world-view. In their quest to simplify life into black and white, ally and enemy, the American people set their minds in stone. They think that for the most part, they are uninvolved in world affairs, and that it's best to stay out of the muck. That explains the fact why Jackson sings about not understanding the difference between Iraq and Iran. What's the point? Why bother figuring out all this mumbo jumbo about foreign relations? Their reasoning is, if they kicked us in the balls (9/11) we go right back and kick them back, and to hell with any of their complaints. Bomb the terrorists, they think, the rest of their country be damned. During the Vietnam War, a popular slogan arose about winning the Vietnamese people's "hearts and minds". Soon, another popular saying arose, reflecting the realities of the war: "If you grab 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow." We're doing that again.

This also belies another glaring fault. The Iraq war may have been started with no real reason, but the least we can do is finish the damn thing and get the hell out. But military planners, surrounded with a "Zero-Tolerance" for failure attitude, crafted a plan that was weak in many areas. The Iraqi culture was not understood. The magnitude of the war was totally underestimated - we thought we could just steam in with our tanks and the rest of the country would follow. Not so. But what's a military planner to do? When the top brass lacks the cojones to disagree with the president, and the careers of their subordinates are in jeopardy, this is what happens. The Army needs a shakeup. I think this may be the only good part of a draft - draftees won't hesitate to bitch and moan about anything and everything, whereas career officers are only hoping for their promotions. What's happened to the legends of the past? Patton, Jackson, men like these went with their soldiers into the line of fire, and knew what was going on. Now you have "perfumed princes" sitting in front of their satellite displays, their only knowledge of the battle being reports and little blips on a monitor. They have no contact with the realities of war whatsoever. The first thing a president, member of congress, or officer should do after declaring war, is to send one of their kids into the thick of the battle as a grunt. We'd lose all the total bullshit about "bringing freedom", and learn a bit more about bringing our brains along with our (cannon)balls.

By the way, that song is actually a really nice song. I listened to it a lot when it came out, and it was on the top ten charts for weeks, maybe months. But that doesn't excuse the content. When can we get a country singer to sing about the foreign relations between the US and China? Bonus points if you don't mention bamboo hats and rice. I'm waiting...

-Victor