Barkley, I wish such people were consigned to the basement. Unfortunately they're on the Defense Policy Board and at the American Enterprise Institute. Their ideas are wacky, I fully agree, but they've got the president's ear.
The bizarre idea that attacking an immiserated Iraq would diminish our vulnerability to terrorism was accepted by something like 70% of Americans - with now obvious results for the Iraqis. These people are able to ram through their agenda no matter how poorly it fails to cohere by its own logic or satisfy its stated aims.
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