Aside from all the dead horse discussion about how prophetic he was, how rebuilding the country would be more difficult than winning, blah, blah--it gave me the idea for a new catchphrase:
We won the Iraq War, but we lost the peace.
Because Americans don't like to lose wars. Military Moms and Dads don't like to hear that their sons died in vain. Jesus, even I cringed when Harry Reid said that the war was lost--don't you have strategists to tell you that?? We knew Bush's Mission Accomplished speech was a lie, but we reelected him anyway. Besides, if the real crime was merely a hokey publicity stunt, then every politician is guilty.
So here's what a savvy Democrat should tell us: we did win, we toppled Saddam, we created a new government. Sure, Iraq is still a bloodbath, perhaps worse than under Saddam, but that's not because we're losing a war. It's because we're engaged in a futile mission of nation-building. (Ooh, icky, unpopular, nation-building. Yuck.)
It also provides cover against lame "support the troops" attacks. See! We support the troops! We won the war! The failure in Iraq has nothing to do with hard-working American soldiers but the failure of statecraft.
By the time you're reading this, the phrase "We won the Iraq War, but we lost the peace" has been copyrighted. Democratic contenders, it can be yours for $50 per use. Republicans with brass balls must pay $100 per use--except you, Ron Paul, it's yours for the taking.
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