…are condemned to watch other idiots repeat it:

Rebellion must have an unassailable base… it must have a sophisticated alien enemy, in the form of a disciplined army of occupation too small to dominate the whole area effectively from fortified posts. It must have a friendly population – not actively friendly, but sympathetic to the point of not betraying rebel movements to the enemy. Rebellions can be made by 2 percent active in a striking force, and 98 percent passive sympathy. Granted mobility, security… time and doctrine… victory will rest with the insurgents, for the algebraical factors are in the end decisive.

T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, writing about – wait for it – resistance to imperial occupation by indigenous Iraqis.

It’s almost like the military and political leaders of the United States don’t know much history! It’s almost like… by not knowing it… like, I don’t know, like they’re going to repeat it or something! Crazy!