'He that stands it now …' A writer responds to his critics

National Review, March 22, 2004 by David Frum

Throughout the writing of An End to Evil and the two months of discussion afterward, Richard Perle and I strove to do our part to revitalize the patriotic consensus of the first weeks after 9/11--to give Americans a definition of victory in this war and a plan for how to achieve that victory. For me, this is a new task. For Richard, it is the culmination of 35 years of devoted service to the United States and American security.

We would certainly never insist that our ideas will prove correct in every particular detail. We will certainly be wrong about many things, possibly even many important things. We stand ready to be criticized and corrected. But too many of the criticisms and corrections we have thus far received reflect not the failings of our work, numerous as those surely are, but the blinders, weaknesses, and prejudices of the opponents of this war and this administration.

These blinders, weaknesses, and prejudices must be overcome, not for the sake of any one book or any two writers, but for the sake of victory in the great conflict of our time.

Mr. Frum is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor of NATIONAL REVIEW.