SHOCK AND AWE

In the nearly five years since the September 11 attack, the Bush administration has used one primary tactic in the war on terror - "shock and awe". Used in Iraq, it has created a disastrous civil war. Used by Israel against Lebanon with our encouragement and support, it killed nearly a thousand Lebanese civilians, demolished critical infrastructure and made Hezbollah more popular than ever. Many in the administration and conservative interest groups now want to use "shock and awe" on Iran, if not both Syria and North Korea. After five years of failure, they should consider a more potent weapon - negotiation. When the results bear fruit, they may be both shocked and awed.

Originally published in ChicagoTribune, August 24, 2006