The terrorism war begins to sag. The perpetrator we were meant to bag/Remains at large, and wartime fervor fades. Then Bush and all his hawkish White House aides/Drop sanctions as the way to tame Iraq/And say, 'Without delay, we must attack.' If that war sags, there's still a backup plan. It's war without delay against Iran. And when the zest for that war, too, has faded? That's easy: North Korea gets invaded. But then it's hard to think of what to do. Destroy Bahrain? Bomb France? Invade Peru?

Calvin Trillin (The Nation, September 23, 2002)