February 17, 2007 ... A divided house.

With Congress and the Senate chopping themselves off at the knees because of internecine political wrangling, the North Korean leadership is laughing all the way to its Swiss Bank, with at least 400-million American tax dollars, secure in the knowledge that they are safe from any determined action. Yet again, it has been decisively demonstrated that all a rogue state or determined terrorist group has to do is wear down the American resolve and rhetoric over time.

Not in any one of the current conflicts can America claim victory. Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, for example. And because of this, there is now no possibility of influencing the running sore of Darfur and the subsequent conflict in Chad. Libya--immediately post Saddam Hussein's capture--was one possible claim to success, but only because Iraq was too fresh a conflict for conclusions to be drawn by Colonel Qadaffi. Furthermore, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, is sufficiently emboldened to raise a fresh challenge for foreign territory and natural resources, and we also have the intolerable situation of our CIA agents facing criminal action in Italy with the the support of the European court, in defence of a radical Islamic cleric, and to appease others of his ilk.

America has reached a decisive moment of huge significance. And neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Rodham Clinton will be able to rescue the situation with their policies. And it is extremely unlikely that the Republicans can do any better if they abandon President George W. Bush and his efforts in the remaining 18-months of his presidency. The Republicans must now push forward with the proper military response to Iraqi and Afghan aggression, even to the extent of direct U.S. control. To do otherwise will render America helpless in the face of determined aggression with time on its side. It will also undermine Israel's ability to repel Hamas and Hezbollah aggression, and Israel is the west's vanguard in the middle east.