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Edited on Sun Jun-26-05 11:28 PM by The Magistrate
The political preparations began in the summer of '02, and pressed hardest in the autumn of that year. It has always been my belief the guiding principle behind the invasion was domestic political expediency. By talking up the dangers of Hussein, and the presence of non-conventional weaponry, and blurring responsibilities for the September attacks, it was easy to create a political climate in which opposition to the Republicans could easily be smeared as anti-patriot, and that rendered effective criticism of the regime difficult fot main-stream figures. This, combined with ruthless attacks on moderate Democrats running for re-election, certainly succeeded in altering the balance of the Senate, at a minimum.
It does not seem to me, though, that a withdrawl could gain the regime much political benefit. While they doubtless knew they were lying about the arsenal of Iraq in '02, it seems to me they really did believe the clap-trap they talked about being welcomed as liberators, and the engagement being brief and clean. They must now pay a great price for their self-delusion. The people of our country do not like the authors of a defeat, even when they are ready and willing to accept a defeat, and the retirement of U.S. forces from Iraq will be read by the people as nothing but a defeat. The most enraged among them will be the very elements that are now the core support of the regime, and without the anodyne of military glory, many of them will turn their eyes to the economic travails they face. We who have opposed these reptiles all along will not be the least bit appeased by the belated confession the enterprise was a disaster, foredoomed and futile.
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