But once we had invaded, and it had been established that no such weapons were there, the remaining justification for the invasion was the hope that post-Hussein Iraq could be transformed into a democracy and a beacon of light for the rest of the tormented nations of the Middle East. Unquestionably, bringing about that transformation has proven, in military terms, a vastly more difficult process than Bush envisioned in the happy days following the toppling of Hussein. And political progress, though perhaps rapid when compared with similar developments in the histories of the United States and Europe, has seemed dangerously precarious. It is these problems that have finally exhausted Buckley's patience and led him to declare that "the administration has, now, to cope with failure."
Well, maybe. But the moment when a strategy as comprehensive as America's in the Middle East becomes unsustainable can be hard to discern. The bombing of the Golden Dome was a blow, no doubt about it, but it is already receding in memory. And our individual abilities to put up with bad news vary, both from others' and internally.
As I said in a recent column, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi can't oust the United States from Iraq and he knows it. The United States can, and will, prevail there if it is determined to do so. But success can be delayed and made more costly by the terrorist tactics of suicide bombings, etc., and it can be replaced by total defeat if -- but only if -- the American people lose the will to go on.