Stephen E. Ambrose on Nation Building on National Review Online

He's right, of course. The only way to deal with Saddam Hussein and others of his ilk is not only to topple their regimes, but to stick around and help put something proper in its place. This is why Germany and Japan were successes and Afghanistan became Terrroist Central.

The counter argument, that we should not allow ourselves to be the world's policeman, that we must not be sucked into anymore quagmires like VietNam, is also true. But the proper conclusion is not that we should retrench and avoid future involvement around the world.

There are a couple of standards we should apply:
1. Determine whether the evil confronting us is worth removing.

2. Properly assessing domestic support for the action. Are the people behind you?

3. Once you get going, accept nothing less than victory. You can't just lance the boil, you have to clean out the infection. No more "Police actions." No more DMZs or refuge for the enemy, such as we gave Saddam at the end of the Gulf War.

4. Don't trust any offers of peace that are not based on the thorough cleansing of the former regime. We should be there to see to it that the evil won't come back in another guise.