THE MYTH OF BUSH AS COURAGEOUS WAR LEADER

Jonathan Chait gets it wrong before he gets it right:

The sad thing is that there is, or was, a prospect to get Democrats onboard with the war effort. I believe that liberals loathe the war because they loathe Bush, rather than vice versa. What they want above all is for Bush to admit he made some huge mistakes in Iraq. It's not a big thing to admit; everybody knows it's true.

A simple admission of the obvious would sate his foes — or enough of them, anyway. That would also let Bush make the honest case for carrying on in Iraq. That case is that Iraq is in danger of becoming a failed state and terrorist haven, like Afghanistan. Yes, our invasion caused it to be so, but here we are. If terrorists gain access to Iraq's state power and oil wealth, we'll face dire consequences down the road. The liberals and moderates who supported the war in Afghanistan would support a campaign in Iraq that's based on similar grounds.

Of course, this strategy would also require the administration to care more about building support for the war than propping up the myth of Bush as courageous and indispensable war leader. I guess we know which one of those things this White House cares about more.

It is not true that liberals loathe the war because they loathe Bush. We loathe Bush because we loathe his policies. It is true that the White House cares more about the Bush myth than the fate of the nation and the world.

Tags: Bush, Iraq War