The history of the second Gulf war is still being written, but hindsight is already helpful. Fears that the war would turn into America’s new quagmire, that it would inspire Arab world uprisings, are quelled, for now. The victory, as the White House is calling it, was decisive. Saddam Hussein is gone from power. And Iraqis are free to worship as they choose.
But as the business of reconstruction gets underway, there are more questions. About America’s ability to win, and keep, the peace. About the future of a Trans-Atlantic alliance tainted by the breakdown in pre-war diplomacy. And as the President prepares to announce a major turning point in this war, others are not so sure. America after the war, and America in the world.
Guests:
Timothy Garton Ash, Director of the European Studies Centre at St. Antony’s College at Oxford University
David Brooks, Senior Editor for The Weekly Standard
Joseph Nye, Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.