What should we make of the idea that we should only fight wars that we know in advance that we'll win, even though no such creature exists? And that we only do so with an "exit strategy," which in every other part of the world means that sooner or later the Americans will bail?

'To see victory as a curse and defeat as moral purification and salvation is to combine the ancient idea of hubris with the Christian virtue of humility, catharsis with apocalypse. That such a concept should have its greatest resonance among the intelligentsia can be explained...' Josh Manchester on the ultimate dishonor.

A veteran of the march to Baghdad explains why the outgoing SecDef may be known as the greatest change agent of all time.

Both the Republican Congress and President Bush have long been condemned for not living up to their conservative credentials. But are these critiques missing something? Josh Manchester explores.