Rumsfeld's neocon critics dodge the blame, too

[cal04]

On Friday, this page ran a column by leading neoconservative Bill Kristol on the issue of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's botched handling of the Iraq war. The day before, an interoffice e-mail gave a synopsis of the column: "Bill Kristol says it's time for Rumsfeld to go," the e-mail read. "He blames everybody but himself."

For a second there, I thought the "he" in that second sentence applied to Kristol rather than Rumsfeld. There's a lot of blame to go around for this mess, and Kristol certainly deserves his share.

Kristol is the editor of the Weekly Standard, the magazine that, true to its name, sets the standard for neoconservative philosophy in America. That philosophy differs from old-fashioned conservatism in the area of foreign policy. Old-fashioned conservatives want either to crush potential enemies or leave them alone. The neocons can't figure out whether they want to conquer them or cuddle up to them.

That sort of thing never works. But instead of admitting that the conquer-or-cuddle philosophy is flawed, Kristol blamed Rumsfeld for its execution. "All defense secretaries in wartime have made misjudgments," he wrote. "Some have stubbornly persisted in their misjudgments. But has any so breezily dodged responsibility and so glibly passed the buck?" Good question. Let's apply it to Kristol and the other neocons. Here's how Kristol envisioned the war back in September 2002:

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[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. This piece by Paul Mulshine...

The Newark Star-Ledger's reliably crotchety conservative, has left me gobsmacked. For him to be writing these words is pretty amazing. Is this the start of Mulshine's transformation in print?

[Overseas]

2. You said it !! Exactly what bugs me about the Rummy bashing

He's horrible and culpable but so are most of the Neocons bashing him right now.

[genieroze]

3. It's seems to me like a skunk telling another skunk he stinks. eom