I want to say to all those I have pinged that within recent decades, even until a few years ago, I would have agreed with the sentiments almost all of you show. I no longer do. PigRigger has the truth of it.
The argument is long and difficult that leads to the truth, and in many places very sad. I have great love of the Republic, and am a man of the Republic in every way. Unfortunately those days are over, and it is time to move on.
The first point I will try to make is that the majority in any argument is at least as likely as the minority to be wrong. This should be enough to make you all reconsider.
Essentially the Republic, limited Constitutional Government, Ron Paulism, Libertarianism (I do enjoy Hoppe), States Rights, rule of law, all that stuff, has not been able to survive what Hamilton called "democracy" (as Hamilton predicted). As Tyler, Plato, and Aristotle pointed out, universal sufferage has terrible results. A Republic is an attempt to deal with this reality by "mixed Government" wherin "checks and balances" can be preserved. However, the mixed government, Constitutionally limited, with "checks and balances" is long gone. The most important of the Framer's checks on the Federal Government - States Rights - are gone with the wind. As Franklin said, "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it." Well, we haven't.
So now it is Empire, for better or worse. The Iraq business is a brilliant piece of international strategy, aimed as much at China, Russia, and Europe as it is at the Arab and other Muslim countries. I can see what Bush is doing, and it is brilliant, just brilliant. This is not a war of going over there, kicking a$$, and going home. Those days are over if they ever truly existed. Read your history, you will find that the last war we were in that was like that was the one with Mexico.
The goals in this war, which is still to be won, and can still easily be lost, are many and multilayered. Think of the goals as an attempt to make a world where the United States remains top dog. This requires dealing with each country individually and all of them at once globally. This is what Bush is attempting, and is very close to winning.
The risks are many, and probably the greatest is refusal of the population to support the program.