Andrew, you seem to think Bill Kristol’s statement that the Bush administration is suffering because it has not used sufficient force in Iraq is beyond imagining. Why? Kristol and others have been steadfastly arguing for more than three years that the number of troops committed to Iraq has been too low and that the unwillingness to commit more troops is the primary cause of our inability to win the war. I’ve argued with that assessment, but it’s kind of hard to argue with it now, isn’t it? On the matter of Iran and North Korea, it is axiomatic that had we succeeded in Iraq before this year, Iran and North Korea would be more frightened of us and a potential military response than they are now. And as for the GOP distress over excess spending, this year’s explosion of discontent on the Right would not, in my opinion, have happened if we’d actually won the war by now. I think what’s going on in the Republican party is all about the fact that we have not achieved our goals in Iraq. Of course there’s real reason to be displeased by the grotesque conduct of the Congress and the administration’s failure to hold the line on spending. But when a nation is at war, every other issue besides the war is a proxy.