Week of Nov. 5, 2007

In one of his less glorious moments, on September 24, 2007, Mayor Bloomberg compared the Iraq War to the American Revolution,"but this time we’re the British." He was not comparing motives, he said. Only the way Iraq insurgents were apparently flummoxing our trained regular army. Mr. Bloomberg doesn’t seem to realize that the Americans of 1776 had a regular army too, and Washington insisted the war could not be won without this"army to look the enemy in the face." Mike seems to think (as do many people) that our Revolution pitted guerillas against regulars. If Washington were listening, he would say:"Don’t let this guy become president." Ten to one the mayor thinks the militia won the American Revolution – if – a big if – he knows the difference between a militiaman and a Continental.

14 percent of Iraqis are now displaced from their homes. That would be the equivalent of 42 million Americans forced from their places of residence. I mean, it is a Stephen King-style futuristic apocalypse for Iraq. Only it has just happened, during the past 4 1/2 years. And the American government is responsible for kicking it off. Every time I hear in the US media about how"well" Iraq is going now, I want to spit.

I recently had occasion to discuss the Bush administration's war on terrorism with one of the highest ranking former officials responsible for planning that war. He asked me what I thought the administration's biggest mistake was.

I told him that it was not immediately going bipartisan following the attacks of 9/11. President Roosevelt had invited Republicans to join his cabinet as the U.S. prepared to fight the Germans and the Japanese, and President Lincoln had included political opponents in his efforts to preserve the union. Creating a united political front against an external enemy may blunt the partisan advantage expected from a successful military effort, but it helps to keep the country together at a time when partisan bickering can undercut the effort. The former Bush official agreed, regretting that the war against terrorism had become essentially a Republican project.

Now the Democrats appear to be making the same mistake as they move toward what seems to be an inevitable retaking of the White House. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates are seeking partisan advantage from what many Americans see as the Bush failures in the war against terrorism and especially its extension to Iraq and possibly, in the future, to Iran.

Knee-Capped By Kissinger