I Owe Stanley Kurtz An Apology

by tristero

Coupla days ago, I had merry fun mocking and dismissing Stanley Kurtz. Among the things I excerpted from his post at The Corner was this, which I felt was self-explanatory as malicious, idiotic, tripe:

From Marshall’s posts, you’d think that all Democrats were Iraq hawks–comfortable with the idea of the Iraq war itself, so long as the war involved more troops, or only against the war because of prudent calculations about troop requirements. In fact, a huge chunk of the Democratic Party was against the Iraq war from the start, and would have opposed it even if–no, especially if–they thought that war could be won.

How wrong I was.

This morning, courtesy of Atrios, I’m reading this very nice article by Walter Pincus about Democrats who were right about the war from the beginning getting some good positions in the new Congress. As many of you know, the virtual lockout of Those Who Got It Right is a bete noir of mine so I’m feeling real good, sipping my coffee, thinking maybe there’s hope for the poor benighted planet God hastily stuck us on ’cause S/He was too lazy to work Walmart hours, ie 24/7.

But then I read this:

Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. (S.C.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, was one of several Democrats who predicted during the House floor debate that “the outcome after the conflict is actually going to be the hardest part, and it is far less certain.” He credited his views in part to what he heard over breakfasts with retired generals Anthony C. Zinni and Joseph P. Hoar, both of whom had led the U.S. Army’s Central Command — a part of which is in Spratt’s district.

“They made the point: We do not want to win this war…”

Oh. My. God. Go ahead, my fellow droogs, click on the link. There it is. There’s no point trying to deny it or explain it away. A Democrat approvingly paraphrases what two generals opposed to Bush/Iraq told him, “We do not want to win this war.”

It’s undeniable. The words seared themselves into my brain. The coffee tasted bitter on my tongue. Stanley Kurtz was 100% right. Democrats opposed to Bush/Iraq did not want to win the war. The clear implication is that they opposed Bush/Iraq because they thought it could be won.

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong, my father used to say, and a good man says so. (I was reminded of dear old Dad when I first heard the opening scene of Wozzeck, “Ein guter Mensch, ein guter Mensch!” but I digress.) And so, Stanley Kurtz, I’m sorry. There it is, in the black and white of one of the finest American newspapers, proof positive you were right about Democrats and their intentions.