The 'Axis of Evil' was - and is - very real, as the tyrants of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea knew full well.

China is a civilization pretending to be a nation.

Like Afghanistan before it, Iraq is only one theater in a regional war. We were attacked by a network of terrorist organizations supported by several countries, of whom the most important were Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

So be it. God created profoundly fallible creatures on this earth, and human history is mostly the story of error and accident.

I think Hadley is to Rice as Scowcroft was to Kissinger; not inclined to think or act independently.

If you're convinced that you face bad options, then by all means take the least bad.