The eternal next time

[jpgray]

Next time we intervene in a nation with the best of intentions, our doing so will be good for that nation, and have no disagreeable consequences for us or the rest of the world. Next time we deploy military resources to aid some group of people, our doing so will be good for those people, and not leave them as bad as or worse off than they were before. Next time we help to remove a totalitarian ruler, we won't look the other way when the side we supported engages in mass proscriptions, persecutes religious and ethnic minorities, etc.

Hey look, it's next time. It's no fair, remember, to judge next time by the last ten or twenty times. Right? After all, this time we are exactly clear on what the aftermath is likely to be, exactly how far we are willing to support our favored side, and exactly what our chief aims are.