1.0 link 93721 <![CDATA[John McCain, Iraq, and the Eyewitness Fallacy]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/john-mccain-iraq-and-the-_b_93721.html John McCain's glowing post-visit assessment of conditions in Iraq, and Hillary Clinton's hyperbolically harrowing recollections of her 1996 trip to Bosnia both stand as shining examples of what the British writer Malcolm Muggeridge dubbed "the eyewitness fallacy."

In a brilliant essay, Muggeridge described public figures of strong conviction throughout history -- many of them greatly admired and well-meaning -- who, in eyewitness accounts, saw what they wanted to see, and became what they wanted to be.

"They must believe...

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