The Center Cannot Hold

I am a firm believer in American exceptionalism, and I do not go to work each day to watch over, or participate in, the dissolution or degredation of American power.

The situation we are in today, particularly in relation to the conflict in Iraq, is serious, and full of problems and mistakes which have been made. The debate continues to be the justification for the war in Iraq -- a debate which utterly baffles me. These are debates about decisions and actions in the perfect tense; they have been made. While those decisions and actions and mistakes may continue to have an intense bearing on the future course, they cannot be unmade in the perfect tense, and unmaking them in the present will not accomplish what not having made them at all might.

I do indeed believe mistakes have been made -- I think that perhaps the war was not the right decision at the time it arose. I still fall far short of judging the conscience or even the decision-making ability of leaders like President Bush. We have, as we always do, a new perspective, and that level of decision-making is far above my pay grade, or that of most critics. But I do believe that mistakes have been made; about this, there is no question.

American power, dominance, and hegemony have been facts for almost a century now, rising out of the First World War. And for much of that time, they acted as cement in solidifying the world, or at least, the West. Even in the face of a bipolar hegemony between the U.S. and Russia, the U.S. was always recognized by most of the world as representing freedom, and holding the moral authority. Three things have always ensured this dominance.

First, a strict moral conscience and ideals of morality, freedom, and goodwill toward other nations. Second, a firm economic superiority as the World's greatest market. And lastly, an undeniable and awesome superiority of pseudo-political force and military strength.

These three things were at an apex following September 11th, and I think that in many ways, the situation in Iraq has severely weakened these three. This is not simply the fault of the government or the President. There are so many social shortcomings and failings right now that contribute -- not the least of which, the complete lack of political will of the people, the same lack that cost us a war in 1975 that had been won in 1974. These things are significant and grave, but not what I'm talking about.

Most importantly, the third of these things, our military superiority, has been squandered. This is not a shortcoming of the military, which as an institution is the finest fighting force in the world, and the ferocity with which we have overwhelmed terrorists in Iraq is awesome. But we cannot continually fight a surgical war, or one for which political reason dictates economy of force. Any time in history in which political will has caused the use of limited force, defeat has quickly followed. Those we are fighting are astute, and as aware of this as we are. As the political discontent with the war continues, their cries of victory are stronger. Ultimately, this is not about our 3,000 dead compared to their 100,000. They can still win.

Perhaps because of these factors, the war should never have begun. Yet it began. And it is alarming to me that few in the U.S. see the only possible strategy that we now must follow. John McCain has said the same thing. Victory continues to be the only course. That does not mean stay in Iraq until 2020 with little improvement. It means that we must abandon the notion of limited force and apply an overwhelming and total dedication of the nations resources into the fight. This will mean many, many more lives, and a budget that will be staggering -- that may hurt the economy, and may finally mean tangible sacrifices of the American people. But it is absolutely essential for the future of this nation.

If not, this conflict will forever be the harbinger of the American decline.