LH-you're right about the streak in the US about the mission to police the world. It's not entirely bad--Wilson's intentions were good, for instance. He was just a little naive--about US politics, among other topics--and about the prospects to impose order from outside--against centuries of history.

And remember, there's also been the countervailing tendency of isolationism--which the US has also been criticized for--as in the "late" entries in the two world wars.


It's just that under Bush, the "democracy" push is an afterthought--to justify the most sordid of motives for the Iraq war.

The crowning irony is that, had Bush just let it go with toppling the Taliban and pursuing bin Laden, his reputation, both in the US and the world at large, would be immeasurably higher.

He had the opportunity to emerge as a strong leader in a good cause. But now he has totally destroyed his own reputation forever.