Fear of a Black Leather Jacket

INDC was on Fox News tonight. Something he said at the end of his blog reminded me of a thought I had during tonight's debate.

When Jim Lehrer asked if after the war in Iraq we were less likely or more likely to make another pre-emptive strike, Bush's answer reminded me of a Happy Days episode. (This was a long time ago, and details are hazy, so I'm paraphrising like crazy). Essentially, Richie had a problem (as always) with someone who wanted to beat him up. He wondered why no one ever messed with the Fonz. And the Fonz taught him about the power of intimidation. Richie tried to intimidate his bully, and the bully challenged him to a fight. When he asked the Fonz why it didn't work, Fonzie told him that he had to have actually hit someone for anyone to believe that he would do it again.

Afghanistan was not necessarily a pre-emptive strike. It was armed response to an attack, and as such was somewhat expected, IMHO. But the pre-emptive strike in Iraq makes it much less likely that we'll make another similar strike, because we've shown that safeguarding ourselves against future terrorist attacks is something we're serious about. Dead serious. Libya saw the light, and voluntarily dismantled their weapons program. We've got to stay the course, finish what we started in Iraq, and cement that reputation.