Neocon Kaplan admits he was wrong (sorta)

Neocons aren't done with their mea culpas. Frontliner Lawrence Kaplan has come to the revelation that the Neocon plan for Iraq (forcibly interjected democracy) is a failure. While he offers no apologies, he does seem to take the position of "who knew?" Here, he is being either obtuse of dishonest.

MANY people spoke against the invasion on the basis that Iraq will not embrace democratic reforms at gunpoint. The chief reason being deep religious and ethnic hatreds among the three major groups (Kurds, Sunnis, Shi'ites). The neocons are now acting like this is somehow a new development, with the implication that the Bush administration couldn't have forseen it. In fact, ONLY the Bush administration (and Tony Blair) failed to see this problem back in 2002.

Kaplan tries to make the argument that Bush's lack of prewar planning is now irrelevant, citing recent acts of unimaginable cruelty (a girl was allegedly beheaded and had a dog head sewn in its place) as essentially proof that the Iraqis are too savage to be civilized. I hope this isn't the GOP's next trick to protect Bush. Before 2003, Iraq was one of the most advanced--culturally and economically--nations in the Middle East...all held together as one political unit by the iron fist of Saddam Hussein.

Bush willfully ignored the history of Iraq, a country with artificial boundaries set by self-serving Brits in 1920 that disregarded native demographics. We can never forget this, out of respect for the soldiers if nothing else. Presidents owe it to the soldiers to make foreign policy based on ALL the info available--not the cherry-picked info that rationalizes a preconceived agenda.