War & Peace Quote by Lawrence Eagleburger

It’s the kind of Beltway prophecy designed to sound both hard-nosed and hands-off: the war on terrorism, Eagleburger suggests, won’t need to topple Saddam directly because success will do the job indirectly, slowly “boxing” him in. The diction is doing quiet work. “My own view… by the way” lowers the temperature, performing modesty and insider realism at the same time. “In its own way” is classic diplomatic cushioning: it signals complexity while keeping the speaker uncommitted to specifics. The verb “box” carries a controlled violence, but it’s procedural, not cinematic - pressure, sanctions, isolation, attrition.

The intent is to reframe Iraq from immediate target to inevitable byproduct. Post-9/11, Washington was actively debating whether Saddam belonged in the same story as al-Qaeda. Eagleburger’s line offers a bridge: treat counterterrorism as a strategic solvent that will dissolve hostile regimes through regional realignment and international consensus. The subtext is patience as policy, and patience as politics: “that’s going to take time” is both a prediction and a hedge against demands for quick, dramatic action.

There’s also a moral sleight-of-hand embedded in the formulation. If Saddam falls because he becomes “isolated,” responsibility diffuses; it’s not regime change by choice, but by historical momentum. That’s the diplomat’s dream narrative: outcomes that look like fate, not fingerprints. The irony, with hindsight, is how this incremental logic sat alongside - and was soon overtaken by - a rush toward direct intervention, where “boxing in” became invasion and “time” became a countdown.