I, like many Americans, see the hyper partisanship in Washington between the Democrats and Republicans as being ugly, but generally somewhat benign. One side calls it white, the other black, and the only thing they seem to agree on is to over spend. I think we mostly see America as the good guys, the guys in the white hats, the "shining city on the hill" as Regan put it. We are the Class President and Team Captain - the one that everyone in school looks up to and wants to be like. The world, like every school, has some malcontents. Those that don't want to conform, Saddam's Iraq and North Korea for example. As the class president, we try to show these countries that their disruptions are not only injurious to others but also to themselves. To do this, we lead the world in isolating these malcontents and getting them to see the error of their ways. Success with countries like Libya, is a long and difficult process. In America the Neoconservatives, a group that has been able to co-opt and dominate American foreign policy during the Bush Administration, believed they found another way. America is the sole remaining superpower and the strongest military power on earth. We spend more on our military than the next twenty nations combined. These Neocons, as they are commonly called, believe that rather than trying to convince nations to do what's right by convincing them it's in their best interest, they should do it because they fear us. We went from being the Class President and Team Captain to the class bully.

For years I've tried to deconstruct their view of the world, perplexed why we refused to talk to Iran, Syria, or North Korea (I found it hugely telling that when forced to enter into diplomacy with Iran, the Neocons solution was to demand that Iran stop their nuclear program as a pre-condition to entering talks to stop their nuclear program - essentially scuttling any chance of these talks occurring). I was confused as to why we went into Iraq, when there wasn't a clear and present danger; confused as to how we could kidnap, imprison without due process, and aggressively interrogate (aka torture) people from around the world; lost as to why we thought we could lecture the world on things like nuclear proliferation, while doing as we pleased like unilaterally rejecting the nuclear treaty obligations with Russia as being 'too limiting'.

The Neocons, with their world view, were in place long before 9/11 but saw an opportunity in 9/11 to transform America into this class bully. Like the class president, most of us working under the old paradigm thought violence should be used as a last resort; and then only after all other means of diffusing the situation had been expended and only if we were cornered and attacked first - after all, that's why it is called the Department of Defense. However, as the class bully, the neoconservatives saw violence as a tool in our tool belt, one that we shouldn't afraid to use to shape the world around us and get our way. They felt that beating up one or two other countries would teach all the countries a lesson.

With the quagmire in Iraq going badly, the Neocons and their theories have been in decline, with the rise of the so-called 'realists' lead by Condoleezza Rice. The fatal flaw of the Neocons is that it's not in our DNA to rule by fiat or be the class bully. America is fundamentally a democracy, we are optimistic, with a 'can do' attitude. Sure we can be obnoxious and arrogant at times, but generally we associate ourselves with being Class President and Team Capitan, and not the class bully. We leave the role of the class bully to the third world dictators that we fight.

However, do not count the Neocons out. Their strongest support is Vice President Dick Cheney, who may be the most powerful and influential Vice President America has had. The Neocons will inevitably argue that their prescription for America was correct, and that like jumping over a ditch, you can either do it or not - but jumping half heartedly puts us in worse position. They will say that the problem wasn't that we went "over to the dark side" as Vice President Cheney would put it, rather we didn't go far enough. The President got cold feet - allowing the realists to, for example, reengage in diplomacy and council caution with Iran. Prior to this administration and our transformation to class bully, when we called for help, for example in the Gulf War, nations rushed to provide assistance. Now, in trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan, we find even our friends are reluctant to help us. Countries are neither following our lead because they like us, nor following our lead because they fear us - rather we find ourselves caught in the ditch. With time running out, their theories largely debunked based on the failure in Iraq (although, they would claim Iraq was the right idea with the wrong execution), and their place in history in jeopardy, we find the Neoconservatives with their backs against the wall, cornered and dangerous. Although they are losing the battle and many of their converts, former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, and others have been force out, with Vice President Cheney still in their camp, we must not count them out. It could be that the Neocons make one last push, one last try to get America to finish the transformation by bombing Iran. The military, operating under the old paradigm, understands that war is hell. That there aren't winners and losers, rather one side simply loses less. But those, such as General Eric Shinseki, the former Army Chief of Staff, that were reluctant about Iraq were pushed aside. We've already seen Admiral Fallon fall on his sword over Iran. The President has toured the middle east, disavowing the NIE estimate on Iran. The drum beat is there and increasing. Most of us on the sidelines insist that "it couldn’t happen". That our military is already overstretched. That there isn't an immediate, clear and present danger. That we aren't cornered with no place to go and that we haven't exhausted all other means. Sound familiar? We were wrong once and could be wrong again. I'd like to think the chance is small, that the Neocons are too weak and discredited, that too many in our government are appalled at the blood and treasure we have sacrificed in Iraq, however, we must be vigilant and watchful that we don't apply old criteria to a Administration that had embraced a new paradigm.