Friedman for More and Better War

There’s a reason why I’m coming so late to the party and linking the same Tom Friedman column as this one which generated so much buzz today—even to the point of reprinting the oft-reprinted central paragraphs:

If we're in such a titanic struggle with radical Islam, and if getting Iraq right is at the center of that struggle, why did you "tough guys" fight the Iraq war with the Rumsfeld Doctrine — just enough troops to lose — and not the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force to create the necessary foundation of any democracy-building project, which is security? How could you send so few troops to fight such an important war when it was obvious that without security Iraqis would fall back on their tribal militias?

Mr. Cheney, if we're in a titanic struggle with Islamic fascists, why have you and President Bush resisted any serious effort to get Americans to conserve energy? Why do you refuse to push higher mileage standards for U.S. automakers or a gasoline tax that would curb our imports of oil? Here we are in the biggest struggle of our lives and we are funding both sides — the U.S. military with our tax dollars and the radical Islamists and the governments and charities that support them with our gasoline purchases — and you won't lift a finger to change that. Why? Because it might impose pain on the oil companies and auto lobbies that fund the G.O.P., or require some sacrifice by Americans.

Mr. Cheney, if we're in a titanic struggle with Islamic fascists, why do you constantly use the "war on terrorism" as a wedge issue in domestic politics to frighten voters away from Democrats. How are we going to sustain such a large, long-term struggle if we are a divided country?

And his punchline:

Please, Mr. Cheney, spare us your flag-waving rhetoric about the titanic struggle we are in and how Democrats just don't understand it. It is just so phony — such a patent ploy to divert Americans from the fact that you have never risen to the challenge of this war. You will the ends, but you won't will the means. What a fraud!

Friends, we are on a losing trajectory in Iraq, and, as the latest London plot underscores, the wider war with radical Islam is only getting wider. We need to reassess everything we are doing in this "war on terrorism" and figure out what is worth continuing, what needs changing and what sacrifice we need to demand from every American to match our means with our ends. Yes, the Democrats could help by presenting a serious alternative. But unless the party in power for the next two and half years shakes free of its denial, we are in really, really big trouble.

Look, I love this stuff. Call him a pompous little twit with a silly mustache and no chin (go ahead, call him that), but this is exhilarating. Still, I wonder if people are missing the point here. Which is: Friedman is calling for more war--maybe "more and better war," but still more war. This is not cut-and-run stuff. This is about rising “to the challenge of this war.” In short, “stay the course.”

Now, I happen to think this is the right take. My candidate is the guy who says: look the Bushies have made a terrible cock-up here, and a large part of the tragedy is that we cannot simply walk away from their mess. This is not what I hear any candidate saying just now—it emphatically is not what Joe Lieberman was saying. But somebody say it, please: you’ve got my vote if you do.