Colonel Kurtz Gives Us The Real Reason (Until Further Notice) Why We Are In Iraq.

I try to avoid the National Review whenever possible, however Think Progress' post on this made it too tempting too resist. Stanley "Ze Colonel" Kurtz, debates Jonah "Doughy" Goldberg on Iraq and Iran. In the process Ze Colonel adds a new excuse... I mean ultimate reason we invaded and currently occupy Iraq.

Colonel Kurtz:
My point is that the quick democratization standard was mistaken. We created a false standard for success, and that is our problem. Once we focus on the big picture, and off of the false standard of quick democratization, the public will see Iraq in a new way. It will take a debate about Iran to make that change, and it won't be easy, but that is what's needed. We need to see peace and democracy in Iraq is icing on the cake. The real goal is the proof of resolve against Iran and others. If the public sees that, it might change its view of what's important and what success means.

Iran and North Korea were working on bombs well before Iraq. Iraq didn't make them get nukes. Our problem is that technological advance has intervened to make the nuclear option widely available. That was happening independently. It's just that 9/11 woke us up to the real implications.

This would be fine and I would salute Ze Colonel on this IF intimidating Iran was not one of a growing litany of substitute reasons for invading. Sorry Colonel renaming a rabid Doberman, Fluffy, does not make it any more likely that people will pet it.

Goldberg's response to Kurtz is actually a fair bit of logic. Ultimately, however, he cannot bring himself to admit that while the invasion succeed on an operational level, the occupation is a failure and for all intents and purposes unsalvagable.

"Doughy" Goldberg:
I supported the war and I still support our efforts there. But the deterrence dividend was tapped out with Qaddafy and we ain't seeing any more returns for a while. As Rich and others have noted, Iran's effrontery and the crackdowns in Syria are a very good barometer of how Iraq is no longer having a deterrent effect. You can say Bush is focusing too much on Iraq and not enough on the big picture. But until Iraq is perceived as a success not merely here at home, but abroad, the big picture will just get uglier and uglier.

That's really the point isn't it Jonah. The public has finally realized what those not swayed by the pre-war bullshit knew from the start. This invasion was a mistake form the onset. The occupation was planned to be on the cheap, and the logistics setup for corporate profit. It is not the public's perception that must be changed. You, Kurtz, and you cadre must realized that you were duped, the neo-con's plans for the new American Century were failures before the ink even dried.

Fishing for new ways to defend Shrub's failures isn't loyalty to a failed idea it is just damn sad.