That the war that followed these warnings raises grave questions about its conduct is perhaps less sobering than the realization that it was virtually the only kind of war we could have waged given the outlook of the American military establishment and of the nation at large.  The disproportionality that marked the conduct of the war has deep roots, which gave to its conduct almost the character of inexorability.  The consequences of the Gulf War have given new support to the view that the circumstances in which war remains an "apt and proportionate" and, accordingly, a just means have further narrowed.

Robert W. Tucker is a contributing editor of The National Interest.

Essay Types: Essay