'Modern politics is, at bottom, a struggle not of men but of forces.' So observed Henry Adams nearly a century ago. Yet the men engaged in that struggle fascinate us: through them otherwise latent forces that actually shape politics are made manifest. In recent years, Paul Wolfowitz has been the object of such fascination, extravagantly admired in some quarters for his strategic acumen, reviled in others as a reckless warmonger. It is easy to see why: more than any of the other dramatis personae in contemporary Washington, Wolfowitz embodies the central convictions to which the United States in the age of Bush subscribes -- in particular, an extraordinary certainty in the righteousness of American actions married to extraordinary confidence in the efficacy of American arms. Historians will remember Wolfowitz not as the architect of the Iraq War but as the chief proponent of a radical shift in American thinking about war more generally...(for publication 06/06/05)

http://www.amconmag.com/2005_06_06/article1.html

from The American Conservative, by Andrew J. Bacevich


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp