Brian,
So who is this WE you are talking about?
My self-description would be that I am an empiricist who uses analytical tools like game theory and microeconomics to determine courses of action with the best long-run payoffs. Although I wouldn’t describe myself as a neo-con, these methods of analysis definitely played a large role in the origins of the neoconservative movement, as they analyzed the empirical results of welfare state liberalism.
My analysis of the current situation is that we will have to go to war with Iran at some point (they’ve already declared war on us, in point of fact) and further analysis tells me that sooner is better than later, because the West isn’t getting any younger. We have all the tools we need to pound Iran into the same kind of submission we inflicted on Germany and Japan and I think we should, because that’s the best long-term outcome.
As for my going over to Iraq, I applied for and was rejected at one of the service’s officer candidate school back in the mid-90′s. I was already a bit older than the average candidate back then. If you think I’m some sort of coward, fine, but you must know that ad hominem arguments are amongst the weakest. Next thing, you’ll be telling me that I’m wrong because Noam Chomsky said so.
