Under the headline A Hawk Looks Back, my local Sunday paper (yes, I know it's Tuesday now) printed an interview with PNAC asshole Richard Perle. In the course of answering 5 questions, he managed to place the blame for all the problems in Iraq on the Iraqis themselves, the State Department, the CIA, Paul Bremer, General Tommy Franks, the press and, of course, Congressional Democrats. A remarkable display of prowess in the art of staying on message. And really he did it in 4 questions. He wasted this one being truthful:

Q: Did it ever occur to you, and do you think it ever occurred to the people in the White House, that four years later - a World War II length of time - we'd still be fighting in Iraq, that we'd still be in a tough war, and that we might not win?

A: No, I may be wrong about that, but I don't think it was seriously contemplated.

Yep. They never even considered the possibility things could go wrong. I guess you really have to believe in what you're selling to be successful, and Perle is nothing if not a true believer. In his world, there is still absolutely no doubt that invading Iraq was a good and successful idea, that invading Iran is also a good idea. Any problems in Iraq can only be the fault of those responsible for the implementation of the plan, not of the plan itself and certainly not of the planners.

Most of the PNAC ideologues that were the architects of this war are no longer officially part of the Bush administration. Guys like Perle and Wolfowitz and Feith who really made this war happen, have long since moved back into the private sector where they can function as high-paid cheerleaders for the administration and the war, while ducking any accountability for it. They are gone, but the stench they left behind is going to linger for a long while. And they've still got Darth Cheney out in front every day spreading the gospel of American Empire through never-ending war. Feh.