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I have agreed with the paleo-conservative and libertarian criticisms of neo-conservatism as essentially statist at home and empire-building abroad. We need to protect our national borders from unrestricted immigration and return the Federal government to the strict limits imposed by the Constitution and desired by the Founding Fathers. Frankly, the neo-conservatives are liberals of the New Deal and Great Society stripe that did not shift further to the left in the 1970s, as did much of academia, the mainstream news media, the entertainment industry, and the Democratic Party. Paleo-conservatives and libertarians are correct in their calling the two mainstream parties the Republicrats.

Despite my agreement with the paleo-conservatives and the libertarians, I am compelled to support the war with Iraq. America is not a seperate planet from the rest of the world. There is a convergence of old and new foes - radical Islam, the Peoples Republic of China (a superpower wannabe), North Korea, and Communist elements everywhere from the Kremlin (President Putin is ex-KGB and is reintroducing the outward trappings of the old USSR on the Russian military and government) to Latin America (where Venesuela and Brazil are ruled by Marxist presidents). Old allies like France, Germany, and Canada are defecting from decades-old alliances with the U.S. In the Middle East, even old friends like Turkey and Saudi Arabia are balking at continued friendship with the United States and Britain.

In the dozen years since the Gulf War, the friends of the United States have shrunk to the Anglosphere (except Canada), Israel, the Latin nations of Europe (except France), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and most of Eastern Europe. If Iraq is not defeated, terrorism against America will be encouraged, the Persian Gulf nations will choose China, Russia, Germany, and France as trading partners, with the Euro replacing the dollar as the main international currency, and nations like North Korea may be emboldened. If Columbia and Mexico shift leftward, American energy supplies will be further jeopardized. Our economy will be beset by high energy costs and spin into a severe recession. Such a recession may push our domestic politics far to the left, under a President Hillary Clinton or someone like her.

As much as I dislike the status quo, the alternative of a world dominated by Communists, radical Muslims, and European socialists, with a no longer free United States becoming a vassal state in some global governance arrangement is far worse. America still has a great deal of personal freedom and economic well being compared to the rest of the world. She is still worth fighting for.

I must part from the Buchanans, the Rockwells, the Sobrans, and the Raimundos regarding the Iraqi war.