Bush's Folly

Bush admonishes Americans to stay the course. But staying the course has no inherent virtue as a strategy. Napoleon stayed the course during his invasion of Russia - and his splendid army perished in the Russian winter. Union general Ambrose Burnside stayed the course during the American civil war - sending wave after wave of troops charging up the bluff against Confederate guns at Fredericksburg, with predictable results. Many investors in Enron and Worldcom stayed the course - and rode those stocks all the way to bankruptcy.

Sometimes, staying the course is simply an act of folly. The American people need to at least consider the possibility that the current mission in Iraq may be one of those occasions.