Peter Beinart

About the author: Peter Beinart is editor of the New Republic, a weekly journal of opinion.

Some people have blamed the September 11 terrorist attacks on "blowback"—the unintended consequences of U.S. foreign policy actions. They have argued that the rise of Osama bin Laden, believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, was in part the result of American intervention in the war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union in the 1980s. But a careful reading of history indicates otherwise. Bin Laden's rise is attributable to America's disengagement from Afghanistan, not its intervention there.

When America goes to war, Americans ask a historical question: How did we get ourselves into this? Doves usually answer: imperialism. If we didn't do such nasty things...