Let Your Enemies Crumble

The U.S. forgot the lessons of the cold war when it came to Iraq

For those of us who mistakely supported the war in Iraq, it is tempting to say we were betrayed by the facts. After all, we backed a war to rid Saddam Hussein of weapons he didn't have.

But, in truth, it was not merely our information that proved faulty; it was also our state of mind. In the run-up to war, the Bush Administration repeated one message again and again: Time was running out. "We have every reason to assume the worst," declared President Bush. "Time is not on our side," insisted Dick Cheney.

James Burnham, the most important conservative foreign-policy...

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