COHEN’S CLARITY. Richard Cohen has his good days and his bad ones, but bloggers tend to only quote him on the bad days. Today is a good one:
I share the concern of what would happen to Iraq if the United States pulled out precipitously. I share the concern over what will happen if the United States stays. I share the concern of those who say that no matter whether it stays or goes the outcome will be the same. I especially share the concern of those who say that the Bush administration does not have a plan to disengage and that rather than confront the immensity of its mistake — I pity Donald Rumsfeld if he should ever lose the gift of denial — it thinks that this or that adaptation to new conditions will somehow change the outcome. It will not. The end was set at the beginning. It is better that it come sooner rather than later.
It’s tragically difficult to get even people who think the right things about this to remember from moment-to-moment that this tragic farce is playing out day-by-day and shows all signs of continuing indefinitely.
–Matthew Yglesias
