Mr. Bush’s disfavor in Washington owes more to his greatest success. Simply put, there are those who will never forgive Mr. Bush for not losing a war they had all declared unwinnable.
Here in the afterglow of the turnaround led by Gen. David Petraeus, it’s easy to forget what the smart set was saying two years ago — and how categorical they all were in their certainty. The president was a simpleton, it was agreed. Didn’t he know that Iraq was a civil war, and the only answer was to get out as fast as we could?
“Americans must be clear that Iraq, and the region around it, could be even bloodier and more chaotic after Americans leave,” read the [New York Times] editorial. “There could be reprisals against those who worked with American forces, further ethnic cleansing, even genocide.” Even genocide. With no hint of irony, the Times nevertheless went on to conclude that it would be even worse if we stayed.
This is Vietnam thinking. And the president never accepted it.
Bush’s legacy will be that he didn’t surrender his beliefs when everyone around him clamored that Iraq was unwinnable. It takes a strong will to avoid the four types of conformity, especially when your convictions are based more on a gut feeling than on reason. We can thank Bush for expecting victory from the outset of the war and counting on our superior armed forces to carry out the mission.
Vietnam Thinking
William McGurn says that Bush’s Real Sin Was Winning in Iraq.
Bush’s legacy will be that he didn’t surrender his beliefs when everyone around him clamored that Iraq was unwinnable. It takes a strong will to avoid the four types of conformity, especially when your convictions are based more on a gut feeling than on reason. We can thank Bush for expecting victory from the outset of the war and counting on our superior armed forces to carry out the mission.