The Republicans are testing out some sort of "Greatest Generation" argument for why we need to stay in Iraq. It may be semi-new as relates to Iraq, but as this great essay by Chris Hayes argues, it's always been the subtext of the War on Terror. My hunch, though, is that the Iraq War doesn't provide the morally clear backdrop for a winnable, "epic struggle" of the type that Greatest Generation yearnings need. Iraq is not where my generation wants to define itself.
