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Good quote. Bernard Lewis, who was not a grad student of Leo Strauss or otherwise a neocon, is a key influence on the Bush administration's understanding of and approach to Islam. His erudition and sympathy for that faith give him great credibility.

A key point that Peggy Noonan and most commentators are oblivious to is that security through the advance of democracy and rule of law has been a key goal of American foreign policy since World War II, even if often subordinated to other purposes and interests. Our current predicament -- and the compelling motive for the Bush doctrine -- is that extraordinarily destructive technologies are becoming cheaply and easily available as a result of inexorable scientific and technical advances. Bioweapons are a particular worry due to the rapid development of genetics and microbiology.

The UN, control and inspection regimes, embargoes, sanctions, and other traditional international measures are already ineffective and routinely violated. The French, Germans, Russians and half of our supposed friends will sell most anything for cash and snicker in their sleeves if the US is the most likely target. As to bioweapons, within the decade, a few million dollars, some generic equipment and materials, and a handful of scientists and technicians will be enough to devise deadly new pathogens to order. A rogue regime or a terrorist group in a safe haven or operating covertly will be able to brew up and weaponize forms of disease for which we have no defense.

We could, of course, sit back and hope that international controls would work, or that we would get sufficient intelligence to act in a timely fashion and that the threat could be dealt with by military action. The best outcome that way is another Iraq War or two or three. Most of the other outcomes involve hundreds of thousands or millions of sick and dead Americans from a disease no one has even seen before or from chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons -- or perhaps something like crop blights that wipe out half our food supply.

Hoping for good luck and a happy outcome against mortal perils is a delusion, not a strategy. The Bush doctrine aims at eliminating the rogue regimes, thuggoracies, and failed states where terrorism arises and finds havens and support. In their place, we will plant and foster law-abiding democracies. Instead of just swatting mosquitoes and hoping to avoid malaria and yellow fever, we will drain the swamp.