file under: does any of it help?

a few weeks ago, i ran across this great summation of what's wrong with the war in iraq. it's provided food for thought ever since.

today, a small trail of links eventually led me to this article, in which a handful of high-profile neoconservatives disown their horrific gift to the world. according to them, the stupendously incompetent white house administration is to blame for the entire mess.

as contrite as they present themselves, it's clear that the temptation to dump responsibility on a lame duck president was just too convenient to pass up. with any luck, their forlorn conclusions that american neoconservatism may have suffered a fatal blow because of prez dub will prove to be true. it never made much sense in the first place and clearly doesn't fucking work. assholes.

and what does it mean when my oft-cited once-left dissenter expresses anger and shame at the execution of the man he's been resolutely committed to deposing for the last 20 years or so? what was he expecting, really? has he been paying attention to the way things have been going at all? jesus christ, man!

are there any true internationalists left these days, or has that worldview become hopelessly compromised by foreign policy designed to gouge out advantages for one's own country?

it's all pretty dispiriting today.