On the day of the New Hampshire primary I root for Rep. Ron Paul, Republican of Texas. I don't buy all his statements; I am not, for example, for dismantling NAFTA. I also have no illusions about him winning the nomination. But Paul is for following the Constitution and ending the war, and on that I am for him.

No other major candidate voted against the invasion of Iraq. Hillary Clinton didn't. John Edwards didn't. Paul did, defying the president of his own party. While the other Republicans hold out for "victory," or for "taking responsibility" for a country that doesn't want us, Paul is for adiós. And not just in Iraq: he is for a foreign policy of minding our own business, generally.

I don't know why our president started a war with Iraq. He offered up some reasons, and when those evaporated, he offered some other ones. People have said the war is about WMD, democracy, terrorism, Bush family honor, Israel, Islam, empire and oil. Several of these are plausible, but I don't know. And what does it tell you about a war when you don't know why you're in it?

Recently I met a general who had served over there, and I asked him why we had started a war with Iraq. He paused, dropped his voice, and made me promise not to quote him. Then he only hinted at an answer, which seemed to be that we invaded Iraq because George W. Bush wanted to.

What is the matter with Republicans that they get us into wars like this? Rarely does war achieve conservative ends. It pokes holes in the rule of law. It flouts morality. It sunders families. It unbalances budgets and undermines currencies. Look what it has done to the dollar.

My theory about Republicans is that the Cold War damaged their DNA. For decades they were the party that was ready to fight, fight, fight. Well, communism is dead. The Red Army is gone. The new enemy is a man hiding in a cave somewhere, and other men in Baghdad who make bombs in little rooms. To protect me from these guys, Republicans have declared a War on Terra, and I don't need it.

Somebody has to make this party wake up.

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