The Marines are Fighting the War, America is at the Mall

Bing and Owen West, two generations of marines, wrote a terrific oped for the NY Times. It neatly describes the lack of seriousness in our government by noting the mantra that we can’t win the war without political compromise. Hence, our failure to get a grip on the identities of our enemies. Without a reliable census and ID’s for Iraqis, our enemies have a free run at us.

It reminds me of one my own favorite definitions of peace. Wars end when one side wins and the other loses. The winner imposes terms on the loser, and those terms are called “peace.”

But the Bush Administration constantly acts as if it’s possible to escape this basic truth. Which is why we are all so frustrated.