Foreign/Defense Policy

World War II, which saw almost 300,000 Americans killed (and over 670,000 wounded), was not as controversial as one that has so far taken a small fraction of that terrible toll.

Previous eras saw a resolve, toughness and realism that is sorely lacking today. People understood then that being at war with Hitler’s Germany and Hirohito’s Japan meant that many of our fighting men would die or be wounded.

“Some people think wars are no longer necessary. There has always been a utopian strain in both Western thought from the time of Plato’s “Republic” and the practice of state socialism. But the technological explosion of the last 20 years has made life so long and so good, that many now believe our mastery of nature must extend to human nature as well.”

September and October 2007 were not good months for those who believe the people in the Middle East are barbarians who should be left to their own devices. In other words, they believe that the war can’t be won, and the nation of Iraq will never be anything other than a breeding ground for people who wish to rule through bloodshed and terror.

“Opponents say the war’s proponents seek to sustain the illusion that Iraq is central to the war on terrorism. They might want to consult with Islamic terrorists on this matter. After all, it is Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri (the top two leaders of al Qaeda) who have declared Iraq to be precisely that.”

“Ours is the first generation of Americans that thinks it can demand perfection in war. Our present leisure, wealth, and high technology fool us into thinking that we are demi-gods always able to trump both human and natural disasters. Accordingly, we become frustrated that we cannot master every wartime obstacle, as we seem otherwise to be able to do with computers or cosmetic surgery.”

“Two realities define the range of a meaningful debate on Iraq policy: The war cannot be ended by military means alone. But neither is it possible to “end” the war by ceding the battlefield, for the radical jihadist challenge knows no frontiers.”

“Deposing the Taliban regime still remains the single most important blow that has been struck against the terrorists. And virtually no one could have predicted that a half-decade after the attacks on September 11th, we would not have been hit again. Such things don’t happen by chance.”

“To solve the mystery of the Iraq War you have to explain how a brilliantly executed invasion turned into a messy counterinsurgency struggle. Part of the explanation, at least, is a lack of troops, a fault for which the Defense Department has been responsible.”

“The premise of the Bush Administration has been validated by the course of events over the past several years. The claim that there was no realistic threat to the United States has been disproved as thousands of our enemies have stepped from the shadows to fight.”

The previous strategy in the Middle East failed – it brought about 9/11. To get a different result, we needed a different strategy.

“There is a lot of discussion about the political dynamic in Iraq, but the political dynamic here at home is just as problematic. The United States is at war, and yet our biggest challenge in foreign policy isn’t what’s going on in Iraq. It’s dealing with domestic public opinion here at home that is influenced by the generation that came of age in the 1960s as well as by political celebrities.”