A Neocon Panic, Ctd

A reader writes:

It must drive them nuts to see a clear, if limited, victory for a strategy that is diametrically opposed to their own. Their ideology being discredited by events, and so they characteristically fall back into blind fits of intransigence, like screaming, foot-stomping children.

That Goldberg emailer fails to see what has happened. Obama has known about this facility from day one. At Cairo, he reached out the Muslim world, undermining the Iranian regime's ability to engage in arm-waving, fear-mongering anti-Americanism.  He built himself a triumvirate with Brown and Sarkozy, who actually have an intelligence presence in Iran.  He used that presence to build an airtight case.  He cut a deal with the Russians.  He reached out to Iran, knowing that they would likely reject or ignore his overtures.  Then, when Ahmadinejad comes to New York, having to face Western journalists, Obama announces the the existence of the Qom facility, turning the spotlight on Iran when they are unable to hide behind state-controlled media.  Obama, cool and calm, pulled off a near-perfect diplomatic pincer.

Finally, after years, we're starting to get somewhere with no threats and no bombs. Like I said, it must drive the neocons nuts. Obama did in eight months what George Bush couldn't do in eight years.  How long do you think it will take for Krauthammer find a way to twist this victory into an accusation of naivete?

We know where the naivete exists: among the neocons who predicted an easy, quick victory in Iraq, a country they assured us had no real sectarian tension. I take full responsibility for believing them. But I learned something which they apparently haven't: their claims of hard-headedness are delusional. They don't actually know how the world works. Obama, it seems, may have a better grip.