In evaluating the Global War on Terrorism, the overriding
question is necessarily this one: has more than a decade of
armed conflict enhanced the well-being of the American people?
The war fought by citizen-soldiers at the behest of Abraham
Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt did so. Can we say the same for
the war launched by George W. Bush and perpetuated in modified
form by Barack Obama?  Before taking stock of what a decade of
war has actually produced, recall the expectations that
prevailed shortly before war began. On the eve of World War II,
the mood was anxious. For a nation still caught in the throes of
a protracted economic slump, the prospect of a European war
carried limited appeal; the previous one, just two decades
earlier, had yielded little but disappointment. By comparison,
expectations on the near side of the Global War on Terrorism
were positively bullish. For citizens of the planet’s “sole
remaining superpower,” the 20th century had ended on a high
note. The 21st century appeared rich with prom