A bumper sticker I have seen on some cars at work has been “Endless War” with “less” crossed out and “This” replacing it. With this latest military action against Libya, I have come to believe that the original phrase is more correct.

Since the Gulf War that began with the military buildup in 1990, it really has been “Endless War.” The late Sen. Paul Wellstone made an impassioned speech in the fall of 1990 in which he said that if there was an invasion, that it would trigger long-term tragedy. Because the initial fighting was so one-sided, Wellstone’s critics claimed that he had been discredited. However, looking at the vast number of military strikes, invasions, and both civilian and military deaths that have been tied to U.S. policies since then, I believe that Wellstone was more correct than he ever could have realized at the time.