<Insofar as the actions of the current administration, on behalf of all of us, are very much like disciplining recalcitrant children, the ethical dilemma is the very same one encounters in parenting; to wit - Which is the better course: teaching by example, or "Do as I say, not as I do"?

This comes across as a 2D analogy of a 4D problem:

* The U.S. is not a parent

* Al-Qui'da is not recalcitrant children

* Afghanistan is not a house in shambles

* The Middle East is not the slums of the world

Well, from a 2D aspect, like a photograph of a region, all the above are quite obviously wrong.

The 4D reality of the situation, however, is:

* The U.S., like it or not, has HAD TO elect itself as global police force (there simply are no other takers for the job)

* Al-Qui'da, as well as nations supporting al-Qui'da, is/are an organized crime network of global reach bent on the destruction of the West

* Afghanistan is a nation in ruins that is in dire need of support and rebuilding, a task that will take many years, and cost the world in both funds and human lives

* The Middle East is a land in turmoil, one that has very recently been forced to realize its own limitations as a viable force in the world

Changes are needed, and they will be costly, and they will involve the entire region of the Middle East, as well as the old Soviet republics, Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America.

North America stands alone as being right?!

You can close your mouth now.

No. North America has strong allies around the world (and I saw no reason to include Australia in the above list). We are not alone. We are not weak. But we are also not wrong -- and we do as we say we will do, because we must. There is no “tuff-luv” here, and we are not the worrying parents on prom night. We are a nation under attack, and we are retaliating.

I do not envy the path that was forced upon the president in the last quarter of 2001, but it's a path we've avoided taking far too long -- and it is now the only path left to us. The Middle East must come to heel and must align themselves with the advancing world -- or perish.

Politics will get in the way of what is right for the world far more than it will assist in getting the right things done. News agencies continually repeat the same thing over and over and over, again and again and again. "On September 11, 2001, the world changed." Well, it's time for the nations of that world to change with it -- but the politicians will need to change first.

Election day is approaching,
Dan