A Tragically Apt Analogy

Bush's Homeland Security Advisor defends the Administration's invasion of Iraq against criticism that it only strengthened al Queda's ability to recruit and train, by using this analogy in today's WaPo:

"You're assuming it's a zero-sum game, which is what I don't understand," Townsend said. "The fact is, we were harassing them in Afghanistan, we're harassing them in Iraq, we're harassing them in other ways, non-militarily, around the world. And the answer is, every time you poke the hornet's nest, they are bound to come back and push back on you. That doesn't suggest to me that we shouldn't be doing it."

The War on Terror as poking the hornet's nest. That's a tragically apt analogy. As anyone who grew up in the country knows, when poking the hornet's nest, you either run or you get stung. It's ultimately a futile experience. As we're seeing in Iraq. We've poked. And we're getting stung. And the hornet's nest is still there.