Every time the United States
the last quarter century had acted boldly —
its removal of Noriega and aid for the Contras,
instantaneous support for a reunified Germany,
extension of NATO, preference for Yeltsin instead
of Gorbachev, Gulf War I, bombing of Milosevic,
support for Sharon's fence, withdrawal from Gaza
and decapitation of the Hamas killer elite,
taking out the Taliban and Saddam-good things
have ensued. In contrast, on every occasion that
we have temporized — abject withdrawal from
Lebanon, appeasement of Arafat at Oslo, a decade
of inaction in the Balkans, paralysis in Rwanda,
sloth in the face of terrorist attacks, not going
to Baghdad in 1991 — corpses pile up and the
United States became either less secure or less
respected or both.
So it is also in this present
war, in which our unheralded successes far
outweigh our notorious mistakes. A number of
books right now in galleys are going to look
very, very silly, as they forecast American
defeat, a failed Middle East, and the wages of
not listening to their far smarter
recommendations of using the U.N. more, listening
to Europe, or bringing back the Clinton A-Team.