OxBlog

# Posted 4:32 AM by Ariel David Adesnik

OXBLOG AGREES WITH BOB HERBERT! This is a rare and special occasion. Perhaps it calls for a bottle of expensive champagne. While folks at the WaPo and Slate seem almost desperate to believe that what Bush really, secretly, in his heart-of-hearts, really wants is to pull out of Iraq, Bob Herbert agrees with OxBlog that Bush is committed to Iraq for the long haul. (Hat tip: JK)

Herbert writes that:

[Bush] could declare victory, as a senator once suggested to Lyndon Johnson in the early years of Vietnam, and bring the troops home as quickly as possible...

But don't count on it. The Bush administration has no plans to bring the troops home.

Now, before you get too excited about this sudden florescence of common sense, you should know that Herbert thinks Bush will stay for the long haul because

The whole point of this war, it seems, was to establish a long-term military presence in Iraq to ensure American domination of the Middle East and its precious oil reserves...

It's the oil, stupid.

This is a classic bit of conspiracy theory; it forces you to believe that the evil forces in charge of our governtment are both diabolically brilliant and hilariously incompetent. While smart enough to keep their nefarious plan secret for almost three years now in spite of a global fascination with America and Iraq, these evil forces are so stupid that they didn't even bother planning for the occupation that they supposedly initiated in order to control Iraqi oil.

As I said below, it's amazing how far certain critics will go in order to protect themselves from the admission that George Bush is the idealist and that they are the cynics.

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