National Willpower

Do we as a nation have the will power to continue to fight the good fight for another war? Irregardless of your perspective of the Iraq conflict, very few can deny that we are in a worldwide conflict: Western Civilization versus Islam Fundamentalism. Will is important in wars. The Japanese did not believe the US had the will to engage in a bloody conflict--much to their chagrin and ultimate defeat. (on a related aside, if the Republicans had acted in WWII like the Democrats were acting today against President Bush, that is, to purposedly attempt to throw the war in an effort to embarass an hated president, we would have pulled out of the pacific after the catastrophe of the Phillipines). The North Koreans did not believe the US (and certainly not the world) had the will to fight over a nobody called south Korea. We called their bluff. Similarly USSR did not believe US had dthe will to outlast it in the cold war. Certainly, by then Europe (Except for Britain) had lost the will and if it were not for the US would have certainly been Red by the end of the 40s. Iraq did not believe anyone had the will to fight for Kuwait and found out differently.

Today we have a will power problem. Do we have the will to engage ina worldwide conflict that will certainly take many years and claim many American lives. The Europeans don't and are sitting out of this one. Great Britain is wavering and I presume that within a decade its decadence will cause it to join its fellow Europeans in unwillingness. We are lucky that the Eastern Europeans, after fifty years of Russian dominance, have will power and will joins the US in whatever limited capacity they can offer. If the political theatre being conducted currently is any indication, the answer is NO. Americans no longer have patience. They want it and want it now. Long term is a weekend or a month not multi years. Personal sacrifice means giving up extra dessert for lent not sending a son to die. Unless america has a culture change and shows more will power and long term viewpoints, the future looks bleak.

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