“If there is a sin superior to every other it is that of willful and offensive war”
Thomas Paine’s words written in The Crisis are no less true today than they were two centuries ago.
While the finding released to the public today by the Iraq Commission certainly didn’t characterize our adventure in Iraq as Paine may have if he were witness to it today, it is clear that we have committed sins of needless aggression, arrogance, and incompetence.
It is time for a tragically failed policy to change so that we might “manage the disaster”.
Next time we feel so compelled to bring about unprovoked warfare on a nation, we would do well to remember Paine’s words.