Preemptive Attack

The essential principle is immutable:  we should never go to war unless we have been attacked or are under direct, immediate threat of attack. Never. And never again.

So says Joe Klein of Time Magazine, in a article♠ titled "Iraq: Requiem for a Profound Misadventure".

I am with Mr Klein in being opposed to the war before the invasion.  War is a very uncertain thing, like childbirth.  We should not go to war easily.

That said, one has to ask "Never"?  "We should never go to war unless we have been attacked or are under direct, immediate threat of attack"?  What if Germany had not declared war on us in December 1941?  How would that have worked out?  For those who believe that our two nuclear weapons on Japan did not end the war, but rather the Soviet attack into Manchuria in August 1945, should the Soviet Union have never attacked Japan?

I agree with the principle, but "never" is a very long time.

Retired Army Colonel John Collins (54 years between the Army and Congressional Research Service, including time as a Professor at the National War College) suggested the following:

For elaboration, see Command Decisions, ed. by Kent Roberts Greenfield, Army Center of Military History, 1960, Chapter 1, Louis Morton, "Germany First: The Basic Concept of Allied Strategy in World War II."

Yes, the world today would be different if Germany hadn't declared war on us or we had ignored that declaration.

UPDATE:  I brought Colonel Collins out from deep cover and put his name on his quote, with his permission.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Or maybe it is an OpEd.