Triumph of the Will

Neoconservative national policy analysis really only had one tune to play, albeit set to occassionally different beats. You need more force, and more will to use force. No matter what the circumstances. So Charles Krauthammer spins and whirls around the issue of withdrawal from Iraq. It turns out, though, that the country is in "A Civil War We Can Win." If, that is, we have the will. But, of course, our national will won't be enough:

Yesterday Maliki took over operational control of the Iraqi armed forces, the one national security institution that works. He needs to demonstrate the will to use it. The American people will support a cause that is noble and necessary, but not one that is unwinnable. And without a central Iraqi government willing to act in its own self-defense, this war will be unwinnable. [emphasis added]

How sweet it is. Another typical bit of analysis is that Krauthammer now advocates striking a compromise with the Sunni insurgency. He now sees this as essentially a group of rational actors on behalf of Iraq's Sunni population looking for more money and political power. The sort of people who can and should be bargained with. This, of course, is the analysis of the situation you could have gotten from liberals one or two years ago. In time to do some good in other words. But that was at a time when Krauthammer was busy calling anyone who thought that appeasers and saying all we needed was the will to crush our foes.