Appearing last night on Letterman, Howard Dean said (paraphrasing), "If Iraq can somehow become a peaceful/stable country in that region, then George Bush will have been proven right."This is a critical error which reflects directly on something Kerry missed emphasizing in the debates. Both of them -- and everyone else in this campaign -- needs to get this:
Even if things someday turn out well in Iraq, George Bush has forfeited his right to a second term and any recognition for his first. By ignoring all sane advice about what post-invasion Iraq would look like, by allowing the CPA to be staffed with partisans with no relevant experience, by undermanning operations, by failing to listen to his commanders on the ground, George Bush has cost our country hundreds of lives and Iraq thousands. Unacceptable. And by lying -- yes, lying -- to the American people about all of this (just take the "100,000 Iraqi troops trained"), he has lost all rights to our trust.
Yes, the rationales for war were wrong. Yes, the overall theory of the war seems to have been wrong. But we do not need to wait for history to judge George Bush, and we do not need to look back two years to judge George Bush. We have all the evidence we need right now, in the present. George Bush must go.