The Fifth Truth About the War

Four Unspeakable Truths. Jacob Weisburg of Slate magazine has a nice article out on the "four unspeakable truths about the war." For Weisburg, it's politically unspeakable that 1. the invasion of Iraq was a mistake; 2. that American troops have been victims of the Bush administration's misguided policies and incompetent execution, 3. that the lives of three thousand American troops have been wasted, and 4. that the U. S. is losing the war.

The Fifth Unspeakable Truth. The fifth unspeakable truth, something that seemingly can't be spoken by either politicians or the media, is that war opponents and the left-wing was right about the war from the beginning. The Bush administration, the right-wing, and the media made such a successful effort to stigmatize opposition to the war that nobody is yet allowed to say "you know, it was the people on the left who got it right on the war."

If the Bush administration had been half as effective in conducting the war itself, we'd be in a better situation.