History Repeats Itself

I've been recently reading Barbara W. Tuchman's book The Guns of August, which in great detail mentions the frantic month of orders, counter-orders, and downright lunacy which characterized the start of World War I.

I used to believe that those in power pandered only to their overarching interests, like say for instance, the military-industrial-complex but I'm beginning to understand how individual personalities shape a war. The Kaiser of Germany's inflexibility, both in his character and in his war plan directly lead to the defeat of Germany in the First Battle of the Marne.

It never ceases to amaze me the ways in which human folly, ego, and petty rivalries, tied together in one neat package become the undoing of humanity over and over again. The successes of World War I were successes in deed only, and the the winner ended up with the person who made the least mistakes or at least the least mistakes at the least critical time.

I don't know how much more I can write about this Iraq quandary. I just see examples through history that prove what short term memories human beings have. We get so preoccupied with our own lives that we fail to see when the wool has been pulled over our eyes yet again.