Iraqi Occupation: Not What Neocons Had In Mind

Much has been made of the president’s controversial course correction in Iraq, including adding enough troops (21,500) to bring the total (approximately150,000) to where it was a year ago. Also in the news now are exculpating comments by key architects of the war. The neocons whose lament, in effect, is: “Good idea; bad occupation; not my fault.”

The January issue of “Vanity Fair” magazine impressively lays it out in all its “Neo Culpa” tragedy and travesty. Three examples:

*Kenneth (“Cakewalk”) Adelman , Pentagon insider, bemoaned the new reality that what is no longer credible is “the idea of a tough (U.S.) foreign policy on behalf of morality, the idea of using our power for moral good in the world.

“The incompetence of the Bush team means that most everything we ever stood for now also lies in ruins,” declared Adelman.

“The looting,” he said, “was the decisive moment. The moment this administration was lost was when Donald Rumsfeld took to the podium and said, ‘Stuff happens. This is what free people do.’ It’s not what free people do at all; it’s what barbarians do. The Iraqis were making ‘mistakes’ by ruining their country while the U.S. Army stood there watching!

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