Given that this is the case, what’s the point of looking at the psychology of leaders? It’s not like they’re interesting people. They’re usually tenth-raters: dull, insignificant people whose main quality is that they can follow orders, can sense where power is and serve it. The mechanisms by which they arrive at their beliefs are sort of transparent.

Just the other day, I heard some general explaining why we needed Stealth bombers. The interviewer was trying to ask him, “Can you mention a military mission you could use them for?” He said, “Oh, sure.” It was something like: Imagine we’ve had a nuclear exchange, and now we have to have a follow-up on the Russians. Say the missiles have been destroyed for some reason. The Stealth bombers will be in the air. They’ll be able to make it through the Russian radar and wipe out the last three people who still happen to be alive, while the two people who happen to be alive over here cheer.

Anybody who has a grey cell functioning can see what’s wrong with this. But I don’t say he didn’t believe it. In fact, it he hadn’t believed it, he couldn’t be an Air Force general. You don’t make it through if you’re not capable of concocting for yourself a system of beliefs of this sort.