The shallowness of the "Abandon Iraq" faction.

Neo-Neocon has some extremely insightful comments on Boris Yeltsin, Russia, Iraq, and the difficulties any country faces after the collapse of tyrannical government:

It may be human nature to believe that, once a tyrant’s yoke is loosened, paradise will magically ensue. If so, it’s a dangerous belief. But even though the road is hard, that doesn’t mean a tyrannical regime should stay in power. It just means that extraordinary patience is needed in the attempt to put Humpty back together again afterwards. The task requires—if not all the king’s horses and all the king’s men—then a great many of them, and a great deal of time as well.

As I’ve said, I don’t think I was as naive as those who thought rebuilding Iraq would be easy. But I do admit to having been naive in a different way, and that is that I expected the majority of people in this country to understand what would be involved and to be willing to stick it out much longer than seems to be the case at the moment. That particular naivete of mine is now officially dead.

"Yeltsin, Humpty Dumpty, and the death of naivete." Neo-Neocon, 4/27/07.