General MacArthur's Ghost

It's not just that Halloween has just passed; I feel the presence of the General's spirit more generally. Perhaps it's because I think it inhabits the mind of President Bush. Indeed, if you read Doonesbury, you know what I mean: it would make more sense to me if the little voice that speaks to the invisible Dubya from inside his Roman helmet is the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers rather than Dick Cheney. Why?

MacArthur, whatever his faults, articulated a clear policy and found the Acheson model of"limited war" odious. No politician since MacArthur -- not even Reagan -- was so clear, at least not until Bush. The problem is that Bush won't say so. He pretends, or used to, that the war in Iraq was really about weapons or terrorism or whatever. What it's actually about is the battle for the Middle East, that is, the strategic reallignment of forces throughout the region.

If the general were still alive, he'd no doubt fire off a letter to the press and irritate the heck out of everyone. He was direct. And it got him into trouble. I am not sure I agree with SCAP about Korea, but I do give him credit for articulating a clear vision. My hunch is that Bush has a similiar vision. It's just that he won't tell anyone about it.