"America must steer away from actions that could produce the unintended results of fracturing those very institutions that have helped keep peace since World War II," Hagel said.
Even the tough doves acknowledge that military action can't always wait for international consensus: Blair supported, and Clark directed, a war in Kosovo that lacked U.N. sanction (because of opposition from Russia). But at the price of difficult negotiation with allies over strategy and tactics, the United States did fight that war through NATO -- and Clark now argues the solidity of that alliance was essential to victory.
As Kosovo suggests, the real-world choices don't always divide cleanly between collaboration and autonomy. The debate is a matter of degree. The tough doves join the neo-cons in believing the United States can't wait indefinitely for U.N. authorization before moving against Iraq. But the tough doves believe Bush should have placed a higher priority from the outset on building international support, and are willing to wait longer than neo-cons to obtain it now.
In the end, the two sides are trying to make very different points from the same war. The neo-cons want to frighten the bad guys in rogue states by demonstrating U.S. power and resolve. The tough doves want to unify the civilized world against emerging dangers by demonstrating the value of what Blair has memorably called "a new doctrine of international community." The two camps are marching into battle together, but their own conflicts have just begun.
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Ronald Brownstein's column appears every Monday. See current and past Brownstein columns on The Times' Web site at: www.latimes.com/brownstein.
