NEW HAVEN: American policy in Iraq is reaching a moment of crisis. American troops are stretched thin, andthe US is considering calling up more reserves. The American team sent to find weapons of mass destruction inIraq reportedly have found none. The Bush administration's request for $87 billion for the war has, accordingto polls, met with public rejection. Bush's approval ratings have declined. But most important are events inIraq itself. It's commonplace to say that the United States, having won the war in Iraq, is now in danger oflosing the peace. This view, however, is forgetful of the most famous saying of the theorist of war Carl vonClausewitz - that war is the continuation of politics by other means. Military victory, he is saying, is notsought for its own sake, but to achieve a political goal. If that goal is lost, the war is lost. In otherwords, to lose the peace is to lose the war.