I can even find an excuse for LBJ’s senseless escalation in Vietnam, a sincerely held belief that communism was spreading and had to be defeated. There is no such excuse for W. He invaded Iraq in an irrational attempt to increase the world oil supply. That was a cynical and unforgivable misuse of the American military.

Today the situation is only different in that it is predictably worse than it would have been had we done nothing. Clinton on one side, and the entire GOP on the other, not to mention the WAPO board, is continuing to flirt with another ME military adventure. Review the Powell doctrine and tell me what possible achievable and meritorious goal there is for our military in the ME. “But we gotta do something” is not a rationale for putting any American service person in harm’s way again.