Make War

Washington -- How goes the war on cancer, now in its 20th year?An unrealistic optimism prevailed when Richard Nixon, prodded by the Congress, signed the National Cancer Act into law on Dec. 23, 1971. Kindly but foolish congressional resolutions called for curing cancer in time to commemorate the 1976 bicentennial of American independence. Research funds rapidly increased, though the blank checks promised by the law were never delivered.Today, the disagreeable reality is that, while some battles have been won, victory in the ''war'' remains far off. True enough, there has been remarkable progress in the treatment of several types of cancer and recent scientific findings promise even greater progress.

Arlington, Va. - How much easier it is to enter a war than sometimes to figure out later what it was all about.More than 13 months after he invaded Kuwait, and six months after his army was ejected from that country, Saddam Hussein and his clan-run regime remain in power. He continues to defy the provisions of last March's United Nations-imposed cease-fire.He denies U.N. inspection teams access to facilities suspected of harboring nuclear materials, chemical and biological munitions, ballistic missiles and the wherewithal to make them.

Just call it "The Stadium With No Name!"George is probably safe but he has a secret re-election strategy just in case. One whiff of trouble and we make war on Kirghizia.

President Bush has at last rid the country of its Vietnam syndrome, of the inferiority complex that for two decades caused many Americans to doubt their government and even themselves.The United States now knows that its armed forces can shoot straight and its national security is in good hands. With its self-confidence restored, it need no longer approach its world role apologetically or to feel it cannot compete effectively in international commerce.This frame of mind has its dangers. If the country swaggers too much or gets an exaggerated idea of its manifest destiny, it can get carried away in imposing what Mr. Bush calls the "new world order."

Newt Gingrich, a congressional leader, has put his finger on a potentially serious morale problem that could hamper the war with Iraq.The latest polls show that most Americans are in a two-fisted, hard-nosed mode. Maybe not as euphoric as they were a week or two ago. But the polls say the vast majority of us are itching for our troops to storm in there and, in the inspiring words of our commander in chief, "kick some ass."But Gingrich says that when we start kicking, there can be no dillydallying, shilly-shallying, or pussyfooting.

Lund, Sweden. Last year was too good to be true. Not only did it bring the end of the Cold War but it was the first time in 31 years that no new hot war had started. But now, so soon into the New Year, we are on the familiar treadmill again.There have been 127 wars in the 46 years since the end of the Second World War. At the peak, in 1987, 27 wars were under way, the most since 1700. On average, the annual war-inflicted death toll has been five times greater in this century than the last and eight times greater than the 18th.

After the first few days of the war, Howard County resident Mary Jane Wright had to turn off her television -- at least once in a while."As a military mom, it's hard to stay away from the TV. . . . I find myself searching every face to see if I can see my son. When you walk away from the TV, you think, 'Maybe if I stay 24 hours a day I'll see him,' " says the mother of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Donald Kahrs. "But I want to have the strength and the health to get through this."The compelling images of Patriot anti-missiles blowing up Scuds, TV reporters scrambling to put on gas masks and American prisoners of war reciting anti-war sentiments have held Ms. Wright, along with millions of other Americans, rapt.

JAMES K. POLK was the first president to snooker the U.S. into a war. In 1846, he sent troops into disputed territory to goad Mexico into attacking. It worked. Congress, which he'd duped, had no choice except to declare war. Polk captured his prize -- California and the rest of what is now our Southwest.Thus the second U.S. war of conquest. The first: grabbing the country from its original residents, who, in a geographic stupor, we called Indians. It also was our second under the Constitution (the poorly waged business of 1812 having preceded it)

The clock of war that is ticking loudly for American military forces in the Persian Gulf can also be heard, just as clearly, on Capitol Hill. But in Congress, the countdown toward a possible invasion of Iraq has another sound to it not heard among thetroops: It is the sound of a possible constitutional conflict with the White House.In the hot sands of Saudi Arabia, this other aspect of the gulf crisis may have no meaning, and might even seem silly, as troops prepare for what many expect would be a very bloody, costly war. But there is a historic dimension to this potential home-front combat between Capitol Hill and President Bush, this possible fight over war-making powers under the Constitution.

With the Iraqi crisis reigniting the historic struggle between the presidency and the Congress over war powers, federal Judge Harold H. Greene has made the startling claim that the judiciary can intervene under certain circumstances when "action by the courts would appear to be the only available means to break the stalemate." Another federal judge, Royce Lamberth, sticking to tradition, has issued a contradictory ruling that the courts lack the "expertise, resources and authority" to intrude in such a "political" question.