The Cost of War, or Proof of Success?

One year ago, if you had told me that the focus of the anti-war critics would be the dollar cost of the war in Iraq, I would have answered that we had won. And in fact, that is where we are. The ABC headline today trumpets the cost of the war over the next year as being projected at $12 billion per month. That is, no doubt, a lot of money.

The subtext of the report is not especially subtle. It boils down to this: we are winning this war -- a war that the MSM and the American left have committed to lose -- and if we don't do something quick, this thing will get out of control and the history books will lack the moral clarity [Bush Evil!] that they are all counting on.
Make no mistake. There are many, many on the American Left for whom the worst possible outcome in this would be an American victory and a stable, prosperous -- and moderate -- Iraq. They are no more cheering for success in Iraq than they are cheering for a robust economic recovery at home prior to the 2008 election.

But where we go with this war from here is a totally separate question from how we got into it. And anyone who can't parse this distinction has no business in the dialogue.

There are four basic positions for people on this war, outlined in the graph above. Looking back, I'm with those who opposed the war at the outset. But knowing what we thought we knew at the time -- and everyone on both sides at the highest levels had access to the same information -- it looked like the right thing at the time.

But how we got into the war if immaterial to where we are now. I had debates with a colleague prior to the war. He fiercely opposed it, but argued that once we were in, we were morally obligated to do it right -- that is, to give the Iraqi people time to heal and stabilize before we pull the plug and run.

The funny thing is that many of the same people now pushing Cost Benefit Analysis in Iraq are the same people who fiercely opposed CBA when applied to obscure little critters on the Endangered Species list. I'm more than a little more concerned about the Iraqi children than I am about those obscure little critters.

I guess we all have our priorities.