Justin Logan, one of Cato Institute's nay-sayers, asks: "What Would You Rather Have, The War in Iraq or $1,075?" He notes, "That’s how much you’ve spent on it so far."
Well, I know his answer: He'd rather have the $1,075. That's because he's one of those paleo-libertarians who'd rather wait until he sees the whites of his enemy's eyes, that is, until it's too late.
My answer: I'd rather have a successful war in Iraq, even if it costs me a lot more than $1,075. World War II cost the average American more than $20,000 in today's dollars, not to mention the vastly greater number of casualties inflicted on American forces in that war than in Iraq.
Regardless of what paleo-libertarians and their Leftist allies may think, the war in Iraq is a facet of a larger effort to defeat terrorism, in part by neutralizing its state sponsors. It is not an exercise to slake the blood-lust or power-lust of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld axis.
It is imperative to win in Iraq, just as it is imperative to keep the airways safe, even if that means inconveniencing travelers. Terrorists win when they kill us, not when we thwart them. They certainly do not win when a flight is diverted or canceled, as whiners and scoffers (of all political stripes) would have it.
Related posts:
Not Enough Boots
Defense as the Ultimate Social Service
I Have an Idea
