I’m not sure that the only choices we face in this war are easy success (followed by political triumph for the hawks) or unexpected setbacks (followed by a national failure of nerve). I can imagine that the coverage of this war might change us–might actually make us more accepting of the ordinary risks of war. Two things are clashing here–the absurdly smooth, artificial, and managed world we commonly swim in, and the danger, death, and anarchy upon which the international order actually rests. By the end of this unprecedented war coverage, we may finally allow ourselves to see and acknowledge the reality and necessity of the latter.