Well, gee, let's review the goal of the containment policy toward Iraq: 1) Prevent development of WMD--check; 2) Keep Saddam in a box so that he can't invade his neighbors--check. Sounds to me like it worked rather well, actually. Sorry to have to point out that it was Clinton who presided over that success, I know that makes it painful for you, but there you go.

The "long history of diplomacy"...oh yes, the news these days is just full of validation for Bush's Mideast policy, isn't it? Wasn't the idea some sort of democracy domino theory, that after we conquered Iraq the rest of the Middle East would settle down into peace and prosperity and democracy? How's that working out?

Containment is what the United States does well. We spent half a century working out how to do it in the Cold War, sometimes painfully and expensively, through both Democratic and Republican Administrations, and it worked. It took the most breathtaking arrogance for Bush to discard half a century of institutional geopolitical expertise to purse the neocon fantasy of world domination.

Bush and his NeoRepublican allies are trashing Reagan's legacy just as much as they're trashing Clinton's and FDR's. Bush and his NeoRepublican allies are trashing America.