First Charles Krauthammer , reprinted in the Mobile paper, and now (I read it at Andrew Sullivan’s blog first) Michael Goldfarb in the Weekly Standard – the new idea is apparently to be that we “won” in Iraq with that much-maligned Surge, and now if things go to sh*t it’s all Obama’s fault.
Krauthammer: “…the war is all but over. What remains is an Iraq turned from aggressive, hostile power in the heart of the Middle East to an emerging democracy openly allied with the United States. No president would want to be responsible for undoing that success.” And Goldfarb: “The result is that Obama has inherited victory in Iraq. … Now rather than retreat in defeat, our new president must manage to withdraw American troops without undermining their success.”
“Success.” They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means. And – is that not sort of like saying, “We’ve built this swell pavilion using sturdy marble columns as support. If you don’t want to undo our great achievement, you need to withdraw the columns, while still keeping the roof twelve feet above the ground!” Or – I know you fellas can help me with the right names – “We’ve gone all the way to the playoffs with these star players on our offensive and defensive lines. Now, it’s your job to win the championship as those players watch the game from the bench!”
Update: from Powerline - “…at present it looks like a good bet that history will record Iraq as a successful foreign policy initiative, and possibly one that started the long process of reforming the Arab world, to everyone’s great benefit.” There’s that word again!