A New Phenomenon

“The 9/11 attack was a new phenomenon, and not just because it hit Americans on American soil.  It was not an act of political theater; rather, it was the first successful case of terrorism of mass destruction.  Though the al Qaida hijackers killed only–only!–around three thousand people, one had to assume that the terrorists would have been glad to kill all thirty thousand people who worked at the World Trade Center, and even multiples of that number. 

This was why keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists became, suddenly and inevitably, a far more pressing and higher-order concern than it had before.  It concentrated the minds of U.S. officials on the threat from states that both coveted WMD and supported terrorists.

Iraq was such a state.  Its singular history of aggression, and its defiance of the world’s many efforts to constrain it, made Iraq stand out even among such other WMD-coveting, terrorist-supporting states as Iran and North Korea.” – Douglas Feith, War and Decision, p.214.

“America Does Not Do Its Share!”

“America…is consistently chastised within the economic development community of experts for not providing foreign aid to poor countries at a level commensurate with its wealth.  We are told, ‘The whole developed world is more generous than the United States.  America does not do its share!’  Somehow, the fact that America performs virtually all the Core’s combat interventions in the Gap counts far less than other countries simply sending money, or–better yet–peacekeepers after the fact.” — Thomas Barnett, The Pentagon’s New Map, p.359.

Twelve Reasons to Love the U.S.A., IV

“4.  This is the place where dreams can come true.  U.S. newspapers are full of stories that read almost like fairy tales: the son of a laborer who grows up to be a doctor, the stay-at-home mom who turns a hobby into a flourishing business, the immigrant who becomes a movie star and governor.  The United States has long been the country people flock to for the chance to make better lives.  No other country has built a sturdier ladder for people to climb to success.” – William J. Bennett, The American Patriot’s Almanac, p.34.

What Is the Greatest Harm Government Can Do?

“The government’s greatest harm may come less in the form of its annual cost to taxpayers and more in its destructive influence on civil society and its institutions, such as the family, church, neighborhoods, and other mediating structures that provide humankind meaningful and life-sustaining support.  A society that wishes to remain free and strong will protect these institutions from governmental overextension and politicization.” — Don Eberly, Restoring the Good Society, p.69

What to Do about Iraq, II

“Second: Calculate the costs and benefits of pursuing the war in Iraq by looking forward, not backward.  Critics of the war continually attack the Administration for past acts and omissions–for how the war was ’sold’ or planned or run.  Those are important issues, but the current policy question is whether continuing to fight is worth the effort–whether securing the benefits of success, and avoiding the consequences of failure, will be worth the costs yet unpaid.” – Douglas Feith, War and Decision, p.523.

What to Do about Iraq Now, I

Prof. Douglas Feith, one of the planners of the Iraq war, deals with this issue in four points.  Here is the first.  
“First: Formulate a realistic goal–that is, a reasonable definition of success.  The achievement of stable democracy is not a sensible goal, because it is not likely to be accomplished in the near term.  It may be possible fairly soon, however, for Iraq to reach the point where, despite the inevitable ongoing problems of building a new society, its government can manage its own affairs with only a limited amount of outside help.  That is a realistic goal.” — Douglas Feith, War and Decision, p.522.