The Prudent Use of Power

"Much good can come from the prudent use of power. And much good can come of this: A world once divided into two armed camps now recognizes one sole and preeminent power, the United States of America. And they regard this with no dread. For the world trusts us with power and the world is right. They trust us to be fair and restrained. They trust us to be on the side of decency. They trust us to do what's right."

-- President George H. W. Bush, State of the Union Address, 1992.

A reading of that text, and the one for 1991, makes for marveling at how much, and how little, the world has changed since those days not so long ago. Back then, Presidents Gorbachev and Mitterand, along with Prime Minister John Major, had been important political facilitators of a coalition dedicated to driving Saddam Hussein's invaders out of Kuwait. The effort was successful, owing primarily to a then-unimaginable military victory, achieved in a mere six weeks.

As the U.S. military once more rains down destruction on Iraq, perspective is elusive. There are so many competing points of perspective, so many different conclusions that develop out of different starting points. I pray that, when the smoke clears, we will find that the military miracle of 1991 looks clumsy by comparison, and that the precision of our much-touted precision-guided weapons will have exceeded their high reputation. It is not possible to do now, but when the smoke clears, we will be able to begin a realistic assessment of what has been won, and what lost.

Stock markets around the world rallied vigorously with the onset of bombing. One kind of uncertainty was eliminated by the initiation of hostilities. Many more uncertainties remain to be dealt with.

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Jim Griffin is the chief strategist at Hartford, Conn.-based Aeltus Investment Management, which manages institutional investment accounts and acts as adviser to the Aetna Mutual Funds. His commentary on the financial markets is based upon information thought to be reliable and is not meant as investment advice. While Griffin cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column to Jim Griffin.