Those Democrats who excoriate President Bush for being “extreme” in his pursuit of the War on Terrorism don’t know what “extremism” is. In virtually all matters of the War on Terrorism, George Bush has taken the middle course, the moderate course. He has done what is politically possible and what is in keeping with his character. President Bush is not, by temperament, either a crusader or an evangelist. He has become one only so far as is necessary and, even then, done so with a strong degree of reluctance.

Economist and historian Niall Ferguson maintains that, to understand history, we must also understand counterfactual history- namely, the history of what might have been. To that end, I am going to engage in such an exercise with the aim of demonstrating what the last three years might have looked like were we led by a man who actually behaved as the left likes to think President Bush has behaved.

Surveying the ranks of likely Presidential contenders, it’s hard to find such a man (Newt Gingrich is, I think, the closest thing, and I’m not going to use him). So we’ll reach further back into history and yank a lost man forward to the present day.

(Begin Counterfactual)

Arthur MacArthur IV is the only son of General Douglas MacArthur. Born later in MacArthur’s life (in 1938, to be exact) he has shunned the spotlight, declined to follow in his father’s footsteps, and even reportedly changed his last name. But what if things had gone differently? Supposed Arthur was cut from the same cloth as his father (as his father was from his own father). He attends West Point in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, distinguishes himself there, serves with honor in Vietnam, and rises to high rank within the Army. Imbued with a sense of his own destiny and an eloquent command of the English language (along with a noble lineage) he is, by the time 1990 rolls around, a four star General in charge of Central Command.

Under his command the Gulf War goes much as it did in our time and, as a result, the third General MacArthur wins wide acclaim and popular support. When Colin Powell retires in 1993, he is made Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a job which he accepts mostly because he does not trust President Clinton and is determined to, as his father did with FDR, do his best to defend the military from a President he sees as potentially dangerous.

As his father was an Asia specialist, Arthur MacArthur had a particular expertise in the Middle East. Not only did he spend four years as the Theatre Commander, but he also spent many years involved there in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He carries with him a deep conviction that the entire region is a cesspool which poses a grave threat to America.

Retiring as Chairman in 1997, the fifty-nine year old MacArthur contemplates his future and decides that he is not yet done with serving America. While he was unable to match his father in military rank (Douglas MacArthur being one of only four Five Star Generals in the history of the United States), he believes he can do him one better and achieve the one dream which eluded his father: the Presidency.

Through all of 1998 and much of 1999, General MacArthur crosses the country making speeches about leadership and his view of America. A strongly conservative Republican (as his father was), he writes a well received (and often moving book) in which he lies out a vision of American “moral revival” and “national power.” By the end of 1999 he is the heavy favourite for the Republican Presidential nomination.

However, the campaign itself proves more difficult than he ever thought it would be. In the primaries MacArthur finds himself assailed from both the left (Senator Chuck Hagel attacks his foreign policy proposals as a “recipe for war”) and from the right (Pat Buchannan attacks MacArthur’s newly revealed social conservatism as insincere, using countless examples of cases where he presided over the administration of socially liberal policies while an Army General). Moreover, MacArthur’s overly patrician and aloof style does not thrill as much on the campaign trail as it did when he was presenting cold briefings on the destruction of targets in Baghdad. Despite all of this, in the end, he manages to secure the nomination.

Choosing popular Texas Governor George W. Bush (who was considered an early favourite before MacArthur jumped into the race) as his running mate (it is hoped that Bush’s message of ‘compassionate conservatism’ will soften MacArthur’s image) he hops into the fall campaign against Vice President Al Gore with a fifteen point lead in the polls. MacArthur’s speech accepting the Republican nomination is widely praised, especially for a line where he declares his aim to see, “America rise to its great calling as a nation, rising above the petty squabbles of today, and sailing into an eternity of liberty and hope.”

MacArthur-Bush wins a solid popular majority (55-40-5) and manages to win forty-three states in the Electoral College. Thus it comes to pass that, on January 20th, 2001, Arthur MacArthur IV is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.

The first few months of MacArthur’s Presidency go smoothly. He puts together a solid cabinet, with former Navy Secretary (and close MacArthur friend) John Lehman elevated to Secretary of Defense, Gulf War colleague Colin Powell in as Secretary of State, Arkansas Congressman Asa Hutchinson as Attorney General, and New York Federal Reserve Chairman William McDonough (a Democrat) as Secretary of the Treasury. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is brought back into the Cabinet to serve as the Director of the CIA.

September 11th still comes as it did in our timeline, only this time the terrorists get a little bit luckier. Two planes destroy the World Trade Centre, and the final plane is still brought down by its passengers, but the third plane manages to catch sight of the White House and destroy it, killing Vice President Bush and a great deal of the White House staff.

President MacArthur, on a visit to California to tout his immigration reform plan, is much better versed on emergency planning and has extensive combat experience. He issues a brief statement declaring to the American people that, “our nation has been attacked and, as of this very moment, we are at war,” before embarking on the flight back to Washington, DC.

As a staff officer in the 1970’s, then-Major MacArthur was strongly familiarized with the nation’s emergency plans, plans which he has since reviewed. Not knowing what is coming next, he orders the full implementation of the Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan. All senior officials of the Federal Government will be removed to secure locations. He contacts the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (who, in this timeline, is Strom Thurmond) and receives their recorded assurance that, should he be killed before a new Vice President can be appointed, they will decline to serve in favor of the Secretary of State who is already Airborne and over the Atlantic Ocean in a NECAP plane.

As the nation watches both the frantic recovery operations in New York and at the White House, helicopters swoop down on Washington to evacuate high officials. The Press Secretary at the (undamaged) Pentagon steps before the cameras and informs the world (the President has already informed major world leaders) that the entire Armed Forces of the United States, except its nuclear forces, are on Defense Condition One and will fire if approached. Furthermore, she announces that the President has signed an order Federalizing the entire National Guard (except for those units being used in recovery operations in New York City and Washington) and calling all members of the Reserves to active duty.

Additionally, on the orders of the President, FBI agents rapidly descend upon the homes of every individual on their terrorist watch list, rounding up thousands of mostly-Moslem individuals (but also a considerable number of anti-Government militia members and the like). When informed that such actions are potentially illegal and unconstitutional, the President responds that, “those things will be dealt with later.”

On the ground in Washington, the personally fearless MacArthur addresses the nation (and the world) with the smoking ruin of the White House as a backdrop. He once again affirms that, “from the moment that our enemies took over those planes, our nation was called to war.” Additionally, he specified al-Qaeda as the perpetrator of the attack but goes on to explain (very briefly) that the enemy is “much larger and more dangerous than it would appear even now.” He announces that he will address a Joint Session of Congress the next day with specific proposals for meeting the present danger and warns the American people of “terrible days ahead.”

Non-essential members of Congress are ferried back to Washington for the address (to those who fear a nuclear attack on the Capitol, the President suggests that, in the aftermath of such an attack, the absence of Congress would be more a blessing than a curse). The speech is pulled together by a massive team of people who are not regular White House speechwriters (most of the regulars having been killed). Peggy Noonan is called in to polish things up.

As President MacArthur sees the threat, the only way to defeat it is through the destruction of every rogue regime which sponsors or assists terror, the reformation of the Middle East, and the reassertion of American power on a tremendous scale. In his speech, he makes several specific proposals:

1) That the Congress pass a formal declaration of war which empowers the President to invade any nation which assisted or supported the September 11th attacks or which, in the view of the President, is likely to and capable of supporting such attacks in the future.

2) That the defense budget be tripled, to $1 trillion a year. MacArthur illustrates this point by holding up a $1 bill and asking the Congress if 1 in every 10 dollars created each year in America is too high a price to pay to defend the lives of its people. Moreover, he calls for such spending to be financed via borrowing and decreased domestic spending, pointing out that tax increases will further hurt the already-damaged economy. He points to the Second World War’s borrowing to argue that such increased spending (he hopes for $300 billion in domestic budget cuts and $300 billion in borrowing) is in line with what happened during the Second World War.

3) He calls for the immediate reactivation of the Selective Service system, with a view to bringing the total strength of the Armed Forces up to three million. He hopes that volunteers will provide these numbers but, if they do not, he will resort to a draft.

4) He asks the Congress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in terrorism-related cases.

5) That the Posse Comitatus Act be repealed and the Army allowed to take over Homeland Security functions.

In the fevered atmosphere after 9-11, all of these proposals (with slight modifications- a Congress eager to look hawkish and load up on pork gives him $1.1 trillion for defense, and deficit hawks and wealth-haters manage to slightly raise the income tax rate for the top bracket).

President MacArthur’s first target is Afghanistan, which goes much as it did in our time line (though it goes a little but faster because some of the tactics used by President MacArthur are a little harsher). Europe views the American reaction to terror as nearly hysterical. When the German Chancellor refuses to support the Afghan War and compares the laws quickly passed by Congress to the infamous German “Enabling Act”, the President orders all US forces out of Germany, but only after they trash and pollute the land on which their bases sit so thoroughly as to make it unusable. When US opponents rush a resolution condemning American bombings which kill civilians through the UN General Assembly, the President declares that the UN is “impotent” and orders the US Ambassador to veto every single resolution that moves through the Security Council, regardless of subject, until the General Assembly votes a formal apology. He also orders the Treasury to cease the payment of any funds whatsoever to the United Nations until such an apology is forthcoming.

As US forces finish up in Afghanistan, deployments into Iraq begin. US aircraft are ordered to bomb Iraqi targets around the clock as US Special Forces move into the country. “They know we’re going to invade,” the President tells a Prime Time Press Conference, “so I see no reason to give them time to get ready.” By March of 2002, two US Divisions have marched on Baghdad and Green Berets have killed Saddam Hussein. US dead in the war number just slightly over three hundred. The Iraqi Government is, almost immediately, turned over to a coalition of Iraqi exiles who begin the process of creating a loose federation.

That same month, following a terror bombing which kills twenty-seven, Israeli forces invade the West Bank and kill Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat. President MacArthur calls upon the people of “all civilized nations” to congratulate Israel for bringing about the just death of one of the world’s leading terrorists. When the expected riots to accompany Israel’s killing of Arafat begin, the Israelis put them down with live ammunition. The UN resolutions condemning these actions are the 241st and 242nd, respectively, consecutive resolutions to be vetoed by US Ambassador Ann Coulter.

In the months after the liberation of Baghdad, another full six divisions are deployed to Iraq. Altogether, this makes for ten US Divisions in the Middle East (the 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, 1st Armored Division, 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 42nd Infantry Division (National Guard), 40th Infantry Division (National Guard), 24th Infantry Division (National Guard), and the 49th Armored Division (National Guard). By July 1st, nearly 600,000 US troops are deployed into Iraq, with another 40,000 (the First Marine Division plus supporting units) stationed offshore. Every single other active American regular unit has been deployed overseas (the 10th Mountain Division is in Afghanistan, and both the 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions are in Korea). Back in the United States, reservists and new volunteers (no draft numbers have been called yet) are forming new divisions.

As US forces prepare to move against both Iran and Syria, a major break comes thanks to Libya. Realizing that he is next unless he acts, the dictator of Libya switches sides in the war. In so doing he reveals the true extent of North Korea’s nuclear activities. When US diplomats demand the truth from the North Koreans, they publicly declare that they have a number of nuclear weapons and warn that they will use them if the US attempts to move against their regime. President MacArthur declares that such blackmail is “unacceptable” but takes no obvious immediate action. Meanwhile, with the onset of the fall, eight divisions strike into Iran while two move against Syria.

On September 11th, 2002 (the date, obviously, chosen for effect), US forces strike North Korea, using intelligence won with the greatest of difficulty. Tactical nuclear weapons are used against both North Korea’s missiles and nuclear sites, as well as against some targets along the DMZ. The 173rd Airborne Brigade, thought to be in Iran, makes a surprise strike against the DMZ, along with units of the Third Marine Division. With the commencement of the attack, the Eighth Army (consisting of the 2nd, 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions) strike desperately into the North with the goal of saving Seoul from destruction. The South Korean government is outraged, but reluctantly joins in the battle.

Eleven days after the start of the war, the Syrian regime collapses and Bashar Assad and his family accept a Libyan offer of exile in that country. The Iranians fight harder and even resort to the use of chemical weapons. President MacArthur responds to this act by ordering the use of nuclear weapons to obliterate two complete Iranian divisions. In the aftermath of this exchange, Iran’s waving Ayatollahs are overthrown by young Turks who vow to fight to the death. However, within hours, these too are overthrown by a pro-Western “provisional government.”

The Second Korean War lasts nearly a month, as shattered remnants of the North Korean regime fight on. In an ironic tragedy, one North Korean nuclear weapon is successfully mated with a missile on the third day of the war. However, it badly misfires and obliterates a small city near the demilitarized zone… on the Northern side of the border.

With this convincing demonstration of force, the tide of liberty continues into 2003. US forces, almost as an afterthought, invade the Sudan and overthrow that nation’s Islamist regime. A US-backed coup takes care of Venezuela’s President Chavez, while the 2nd Marine Division is dispatched to deal with Fidel Castro (who ends up being hanged by his own people in downtown Havana). When Saudi Arabia proves reluctant to take certain actions against terror, the US supports the secession of the oil-producing regions of the country and conquers the rest.

Through all of 2003 US forces are gradually consolidated. The UN General Assembly apologizes to the United States and the Security Council resumes operations, its first act being to legitimize all American actions over the past few years. All across the world the wind is blowing towards the United States. Individuals who repressive governments think might even contemplate taking anti-American action quickly wind up dead. The residents of Cuba, liberated from communist tyranny (and soon rejoined by many of their Floridian relatives) request permission to be annexed and become the fifty-first state.

While there exists some opposition to all of this in the United States, it is mostly muted. The political side of the opposition is muted by the overwhelming public sentiment in favor of these policies (carefully cultivated by an extensive propaganda program), while those hardened anti-Americans who would protest against them mostly find themselves behind barbed wire in Nevada (thanks to the suspension of Habeas Corpus). Particularly popular at home is the round-up and deportation of all illegal immigrants (presented as a “security measure”) and the consequent revision of immigration laws to their pre-1965 state, where individuals from a friendly, Western, nation are heavily favored over Third Worlders who are, after all, more likely to be potential terrorists.

(End Counterfactual)

Now, I admit that such actions are unlikely. But they certainly could have been taken by the right President under the right circumstances. To suggest that President Bush has taken the “extreme” course is silly when you view the plausible alternatives.