Fighting the wrong war.

And American foreign policy? Well, I'm not talking about the War to Make the World Safe for Democracy (World War I), the War to End Fascism (World War II), or even the Cold War, which ultimately brought down the Evil Empire, at least temporarily. It greatly pains me to say it, but the war to Buy Time For Iraqis to Reconcile (Iraq) — not at all the same thing as the War to Smash Islamic Jihad, which we are regrettably not fighting — is based on the childish, Flower-Powery premise, born of sophomoric, multiculti myths, that no real differences separate cultures, religions and peoples. And besides, the theory goes, if such differences do exist, it is "mean-spirited" or "intolerant" or "racist" to point them out.

I fully supported Mr. Bush's decision to invade Iraq. As did 99% of all Dem wannabe presidents, of course. It was pleasant to contemplate the removal from office of someone like Hussein and it was delicious to observe the rest of the Islamic world cower down and sweat out whether the U.S. would put various parts of it in its crosshairs.

That moment passed as it turned out there was no Objective # 2 in the President's briefcase and we have been left with what I called the Meatgrinder War during my time in the Mekong Delta -- all that changes is the speed with which the handle on the grinder is turned. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always in the background was the realization that the then president was willing to accept fatal limitations on the use of American power to solve the real problem at hand.

That problem was Chinese and Russian support for the North Vietnamese, Mr. Johnson's refusal to mine the harbor of Haiphong, his refusal to carry the war to every corner of the North, his ordering of bombing halts and sanctuary areas, and the (consequent) North Vietnamese meddling in the affairs of the South.

Americans operated on the assumption that if we really did something to defend our real interests, if we refused to have our interests chipped away piecemeal, then the Soviets and/or the Chinese would get grr cross with us and do something. Heaven forbid that anyone in the Beijing or Moscow should lose any sleep over what we might do if we got seriously pissed off. Ronald Reagan scared the Soviets because it was apparent that he still possessed basic masculine instincts, that he understood and had not forgotten the lessons of the playground.

(Tit for tat decision loops and the cultivation and support of like-minded allies, in case you were wondering.)

It is satisfying to know that our troops are pounding large numbers of jihadis into the sand at the moment. We also need to be mindful of the need to "stay the course" simply to demonstrate that U.S. presidents will not cut and run (as they have in so many instances in the recent past).

Nonetheless, we must also stay rigidly focused on the plain fact of the matter: we are not fighting that War to Smash Islamic Jihad.

Iran is presently absolutely untouched. Saudi Arabia with utter impunity finances terror and subversion around the world and, make no mistake, right here in River City.

And, for a pittance, we sell an ownership stake in our magnificent economy to oil producing countries whose rulers belong in a zoo rather than in boardrooms or chancelleries.

Rather than play pile on with Mr. Bush as the target, we should recognize that in March of 2003 just about anything was a good thing to do and what we did do scared the heck out of some people who badly needed an education in American power projection and employment.

Now we need to help Mr. Bush and the next president find a way to turn our military attention to the right targets by virtue of a reasonable and salutary mid-course correction. Forget blame, forget partisan hatred. We all need to help the country by bringing ferocious pressure to bear on our true enemies – Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Pakistan, and N. Korea.

A half century of half measures since the days of Task Force Smith have not served us well. And the hour is late.

"Forever children." By Diana West, Washington Times, 8/24/07 (emphasis added).