U.S. hubris could come back to haunt us

A dangerous amount of hubris seems to be settling over Washington like fallout from a bomb. Hubris, of course, is the combination of arrogance and unwarranted assumptions.

Recently, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said our "victory" in Afghanistan proves that we are the "most militarily powerful country in the history of the world." That’s hubris, not to mention ignorance of matters both military and historical.

We didn’t fight in Afghanistan. We bribed warlords to do the fighting. We just bombed light infantry troops who had no air defense. The outcome was no surprise and no proof of our military power. Sorry, Lieberman, but you’re going to have to wait until we attack somebody besides tiny and/or impoverished nations before you can properly evaluate our military prowess.