Mission Accomplished

No, this time for real.

Inside the Bush Administration it’s high-fives all around.

The chattering class on the T.V. news shows and columnists in newspapers are presenting instant-history, declaring Bush was right, after all: Bomb the hell out of the citizenry of one country and its neighbors will see the wisdom.

In the past week or so, Lebanon, if you were to believe some of these folks, has suddenly become a democratic nation. It’s a fait accompli. Mission accomplished.

Few in this giddy group are remembering that we supposedly went to Iraq to gather up weapons of mass destruction, not spread democracy.

Bush was out this morning giving himself a round of pats on the back and praising the Lebanese citizens for embracing our way of life. Meanwhile, half a million Lebanese were taking to the streets with anti-American signs and chants.

The Bush Administration seems to suffer from a sort of geo-political Attention Deficit Disorder. There are years of work to be done in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as a result of Bush’s recklessness and impatience, the costs of the rebuilding those two nations is falling on American taxpayers and American soldiers.

Democracy is far from taking hold in those countries and we are deeply invested there.

Unless Bush is ready to commit America's blood and money in yet another part of the Middle East he should be cautious about throwing himself a victory party.