Was Bush right?

That's the main headline for The Independent. If he is, if will not be a surprise to those of us who saw the war as a strategy for destroying terrorism by addressing its roots, which ironically is what a lot of liberals said after 9/11 but only for purposes of blaming the U.S. for the attacks.

It was a risky plan, and the stakes are huge. It could still slide back in a recrudescence of tyranny, but I think that everybody now is acknowledging that it was not a bad idea after all. Will Bush's critics give him credit? Probably none who matter.

I believe that the hand of the Lord was in this; that he loves these people as much as anyone else, and that the U.S.A. has a mission to break down the barricades against preaching freedom and truth to all people on earth. We don't deserve our good fortune, necessarily, but for the time being our might has a purpose. I still think that wars and rumors of war are inevitable, but we shouldn't head for the fallout shelters quite yet.