Queen Elizabeth (I)

Ever since the United States first went to war in Iraq in 2003, growing numbers of Americans have expressed frustration over what many perceive to be the Bush administration’s failure to back up the decision to take military action with tangible evidence. After the revelation that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction—ostensibly the original reason for going to war to oust Saddam Hussein—large segments of U.S. society became more and more disillusioned with the war and with President Bush’s attempts to explain his reasons for continuing the fight.

Four hundred years ago, Elizabeth I also tried to explain to her people why she was committing England to war. In view of our own recent experiences with the Bush administration’s vague reassurances that the United States is doing the right thing in the Iraq war, Elizabeth’s words seem eerily familiar:

“At this time it will be sufficient to let you know the grounds and motives of the war to which you contribute, the merit of the princess for whose sake you contribute: that my care is neither to continue war nor conclude a peace but for your good. . . .”