Bush, war, and Iraq.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.
• Position: State Of The Nation - George W. Bush

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION has made it clear that it will not leave office with Saddam Hussein still in power. The fate of the Bush Administration will be riding on the wisdom of that decision, as well as things far more important--the success of the war against radical Islamism, the future of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the overall standing of the U.S. as the world's only superpower. Wars are difficult events to predict or anticipate. Americans of my generation should know this from bitter experience. Despite our triumph in the Cold War, we had little success in the hot wars of that era. Against the expectations of many, the Korean War was fought to a draw and the Vietnam War was lost.

Since then, the American military has had a string of impressive successes. The Grenada and Panama operations were messy, but eliminated onerous hostile regimes. The Gulf War was a technological and operational triumph, even though the U.S. stopped before taking the campaign all the way to Baghdad. The air strikes in Kosovo, fought with no American casualties, ended the Serbian incursion and hastened the toppling of the Slobodan Milosevic regime. The Afghan action, while far from complete, removed the Taliban government and the Al Qaeda terrorist camps, and did not result in the quagmire many predicted.

These past successes should not be taken as guidelines about Iraq. None was a protracted bloody war on the scale of Korea or Vietnam, testing the staying power of the American people. They were quick affairs with limited casualties, important allies, and no major power in opposition. In Grenada and Panama, most of the small Caribbean island states backed us. In the Gulf War, the U.S. had the support of the United Nations, and just about every major Arab country was part of the coalition. In Kosovo, America was fighting on behalf of the NATO alliance. The Russians grumbled a bit about the U.S. bombing of Serbia, and the Chinese certainly were not happy about the bombing of their embassy in Belgrade. Nevertheless, neither country was in open opposition to American efforts. In Afghanistan, the U.S., as a consequence of Sept. 11, had the broad support of its allies and little resistance from any significant power.

Admittedly, in all those campaigns, most of the allies provided politically symbolic support, rather than contributing valuable military assets. There were exceptions--the British in the Gulf, the Balkans, and Afghanistan, and the...