The Lie Aggressors Tell Themselves- And Tell Others

Secretary of Defense McNamara once posed a question:

"How much evil must we perpetrate before we are able to do "good"?"

This question reveals three important aspects of the view and disposition of aggressors:

1) The need for total domination of others by the 'control freaks' in charge, and the feeling that aggression is warranted, is necessary, to achieve it. The U.S. at that time, and at this time, had superior military power. Those in charge itched to use it then to prove their superiority, and itch to use it now- to prove their 'greatness' by domination.

2) It is the lie the aggressors of history tell themselves to cloak their aggression and violence in goodness and legitimacy: To sublimate- make themselves feel better about- what they do to others. Regardless of the pain they cause, and the evil they do, there is an overwhelming need to see it as 'good' or as an instrument of good. It is the same dynamic and attitude of a 'wife beater', who in his mind rationalizes that it was the actions of the wife that 'caused' him to beat her.

3) These people who have the need for domination have no clue about how to do 'good' for others, and history always bears it out. The oppression never stops but expands, and there is always another enemy where to direct the aggression. They have no empathy and see no commonality for others lesser than themselves- the citizens, the people. If they did there would be no need for the repression in the first place. The good they want to do is never found and never done, because it lies not in their hearts.

McNamara's question reveals the lie at the heart, and in the heart, of aggressors.