In her column today about President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan, Peggy Noonan makes an important observation — neither pro-war nor anti-war, IMHO, but simply true:
Here we should think about and emblazon on the national memory the biggest lesson of the uses of American power circa 2001-09. The minute American troops are committed anywhere in the world, there are, immediately, 10 reasons why they cannot leave, should not leave. The next day there are 20. It is, always, the commitment itself that is the dramatic fact, the thing from which all else flows, and that carries within it the heaviest implications.
Perhaps that’s an obvious point, but Noonan articulates it well, and it’s something to always keep in mind when deciding whether to go to war. Even a “good” war. Even a “just” war. It’s not an argument against war generally, nor against any particular war (least of all Afghanistan, which was a necessary and just war if there ever was such a thing). It’s just an undeniable practical reality to always keep at the forefront of our minds, an “unintended consequence” that’s so predictable, there’s no excuse for not anticipating it.