Lessons From Iraq

by Patrick Appel

Douthat hones in on the big one:

[W:]hat the war in Iraq has really impressed upon me is the bluntness ofmilitary force as an instrument of state, and the difficulty ofpredicting any of the long-term consequences that flow from adecision to make war. We can spin out complicated counterfactuals thatjustify the Iraq invasion, and complicated counterfactuals that make itlook even worse. We can hope for long-range developments that make theBush administration's decisions seem...