IDEOLOGY….David Brooks is getting some attention for his latest column, in which he agrees with the 9/11 commission that we’re not engaged in a war on terror. Rather, “we are in the midst of an ideological conflict”:
Last week I met with a leading military officer stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose observations dovetailed remarkably with the 9/11 commissioners. He said the experience of the last few years is misleading; only 10 percent of our efforts from now on will be military. The rest will be ideological.
Question 1: is there anyone who disagrees with the idea that this is primarily an ideological conflict? It seems to me that both left and right pretty much already agree on this, although there’s hardly 100% agreement on exactly what ideology we’re fighting.
Question 2: do the hawks agree with the notion that only a very small part of our future efforts will be military? And if so, what exactly do they think is the primary difference between George Bush and John Kerry on national security?
