One of Dennis Prager's favorite ways to slander "The Left" and those against the Iraq war is to focus on the phrase "War is Not the Answer." Indeed, this phrase can be seen on bumper-stickers and protests signs. Simply standing alone it is a slogan, not an argument. However, it can be the conclusion to an argument supported by premises and supporting evidence.

My problem with Prager is that he pretends that this slogan is the anti-war movement's argument.  He argues that it was based solely on an emotional reaction to the war.  This amounts to constructing a straw-man argument to knockdown. No doubt there are some not-so-thoughtful anti-war folks out there who employ slogans instead of substantiated arguments. However, it is no credit to a critic like Prager to attack his opposition's weakest argument, or in this case a bumper-sticker slogan.

Before I continue with the Iraq case, let me just make clear that I would agree with Prager in general terms that sometimes war is necessary. War indeed may be a neccessary evil, a phrase I predict Prager would not concur with taking issue with the use of "evil". But I make no defense of any conclusion that "war is never the answer."

Prager's favorite example, and rightly so, is World War II and the war to stop Nazi Germany and its fascist allies. It is important to note in this case that it was Nazi Germany and Japan that were the main instigators of these wars, and the U.S. and its allies were forced into war.

This was clearly not the case with Iraq, nor will it be with Iran.

Leading up to the Iraq invasion there were many arguments that led to the conclusion that war was not the answer, nor was it neccessary in this case. First, there was evidence calling into question the Bush administrations claims about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction BEFORE the invasion.  Iraq had readmitted inspectors, and any threat of Iraq's possession of WMD and could have been contained.

Many of the arguments against the war predicted exactly the problems we are now seeing in Iraq at this time. That is, a nationalist insurgency attacking U.S. soldiers, civil-war and sectarian violence.   And speaking of anti-war slogans and posters. Back in 2003 prior to the invasion of Iraq I recall seeing a poster on a street corner with a depiction of Osama Bin Laden posed like an Uncle Sam with the quotes "I want you to invade Iraq!"  Iraq now is the training ground and recruitment issue of Islamic jihadists.  Mission accomplished for Osama!