POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY CLIVE CROOK IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES
Yes, sadly, it is Obama's war now.
But Obama chose to be President of a country that his keen intelligence had to know is addicted to war.
The Puritan genes - with their bizarre gift of making recipients always seeking for the evil one and ready to damn what are considered the enemies of God and tons of smug self-satisfaction - absolutely dominate modern America's identity.
The trouble with the modern version of God's New Model Army is that it is a world-straddling monster with the power to destroy the earth or, alternately, to assassinate someone on the other side of the planet by a bureacrat playing at a joystick.
And it is backed up by an intelligence house of horrors - at least a dozen agencies, some secret, and all receiving more money than they know what to do with.
There are few statements ever made that belong in my personal secular bible, but one is Lord Acton's dictum.
Who is able to resist the lures of such hellish power? Who is able to stand against it?
Obama is a fine human being with virtually all the talents of a great leader.
But he is surrounded, even at the mercy of, individuals who subscribe to the thoughts of Milton's Satan, it is better to be a prince in hell than serve in heaven.
