Stay The Course

There are a lot of classically bad arguments in the debate over Iraq. One is the ad hominem attack, saying, for example, those who support the war have never personally fought. Another is related--questioning motives (the war is for oil, those who oppose it hate America, etc.).

Maybe the most popular bad argument these days--you hear it from Howard Dean, John Murtha, John Kerry, all the usual suspects--is the "stay-the-course" argument; that our strategy has failed and staying the course is simply prolonging the failure. As others have put it, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

The insanity quotation is from Benjamin Franklin. I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong (and at least he's being witty), but you have to look at the circumstances. Democrats say the Republicans' strategy in Iraq is to "stay the course," which is no strategy at all. This is untrue on its face, since our strategy is constantly evolving as we integrate new intelligence. But even if it weren't changing, that doesn't mean it's wrong.

Imagine you're on a boat trip into unknown territory. Would you go to the captain and complain "we've been at sailing west for weeks and no land yet--are you suggesting we just keep doing the same thing?" It's not insane to think if you keep going you may find land. More important, if you're past the point of no return, the only guaranteed disaster is turning back.