OK, so the Bush Doctrine of preemption took it on the chin in Iraq.  That's true from a political standpoint.  The reality of course will take years to play out.  Like most epic conflicts, the white hat guys (that's us, despite what Dick 'Turban' Durbin says) will have their good and bad days.  But in the last few months, we've seen a savvy and stealth change of course for the administration's war on terror.....right out of Muhammed Ali's playbook.

Remember Ali, aka Cassius Clay?  The brash, talented and outspoken fighter who taunted his opponents, who was as colorful out of the ring as in it, and whom many think is the greatest heavyweight of all time, now unfortunately battles Parkinson's disease.  But in his day, remember how he would cover up and bounce of the ropes, seemingly running from a pummeling, giving us all pause to wonder whether he had the resolve to continue.  Then, watch out.  Katie bar the door.  When his opponent was all punched out, and least expected it, he would emerge relentlessly firing that wicked jab and finish with a KO. 

Now fast forward to W and his war on terrorists. We sense a change in the winds at the White House.  First with North Korea and now with the Hezbollah crisis, there's an erie hesitance to immerse-whether in bilateral talks with hair boy Kim Jung Ill or to push for a cease fire at any cost between Israel and Hezbollah.  What's going on?

Recent history in the halls of Congress tells a tale of implosion from within, just what the Jihadists want.  The military is compared to Pol Pot by Dick Durbin, Cindy Sheehan gets the spotlight by calling our president the worst terrorist in the world, and the Left in general uses any incident or temporary setback to further their own political ambitions. 

Well, folks, Rove and company are smart.  They are simply letting the enemy punch himself out, metaphorically speaking, while they garner sympathy from a punch drunk and previously sleeping international community.  The strategy is simple:  When the "moderate" Arabs realize that their quazi democratic states (Egypt, Jordan for example) will go the way of the radical and terror led theocracies like Iran and Palestine, when another train or subway bombing convinces the Europeans or Indians that the ideologues or simply evil and need to be exterminated, look out. 

W will have the critical mass to come off the rope with relentless fury and the real WW III will begin.  We can only hope that the world will awaken and like the corner coaches, call on the only unswerving defenders of democracy and liberty to fight the winning fight.  Do we have a few upper cuts left.  For the sake of us all, let's hope so.