Hormats persuasively argues that post 9/11 financing is new and unprecedented in American history. U.S. leaders are ill-prepared to fight a long war against Islamists.

Previous American leadership wisely paid down the debt in a post-war environment in order to be prepared for the next conflict. To this end, in American history the Hamiltonian and the Jeffersonian options have played out over the years. In times of war Americans paid more but in peace lessened the debt.

In the current financial debates the U.S. leaders are not as prudent as they were in times past and this is the precarious situation that Hormats has identified. The long-suffering, crafty, and patient enemy can defeat the might of the U.S. The Islamists are just that threat during a time when U.S. leaders are not acting out of concern for the American tradition of caring for their posterity.