After more consideration, I think there's more to my wartime foreboding than mere nostalgia. Despite the mantra that "everything's changed now" and that "new times demand new concepts," I suspect that we'll follow much the same modus operandi we followed during the Cold War. Proclaiming democracy and freedom, we'll install some attack dogs who promise to be tough on terrorists and never ever develop nuclear weapons. We'll turn a blind eye to their dictatorial excesses, then express shock when some of these attack dogs break their leash and turn on us like Hussein did, or when the locals turn on their harsh rulers.

Even if we decide to govern not by proxy but via the US military, we'll end up putting down various rebellions ad infinitum--until and unless we loose a Sherman-like campaign of annihilation on rebel areas. And that's just Iraq. The hawkish are clamoring for war on Iran, North Korea, plus Saudi Arabia and even China(!).

So how long will the US be able to keep annihilating, before a coalition rises against us?