Will Rush and Sean and O’Reilly begin claiming that the Heritage Foundation (HF) and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) have joined the ranks of the “Hate America” forces, since their conferences seem to have contained a lot of criticism of the Iraq War? [See the Financial Times report on the conferences below]

The Financial Times reports on conservative think tank conferences (HF and AEI) about Iraq, where the speakers seem to have abandoned euphoric support in the face of reality, and instead are talking about the horrors of early withdrawal.

Smart experts on the Middle East predicted a long drawn out insurgency prior to the war. History teaches us about how the jihadists in Afghanistan and other places were tenacious foes.

Given the lessons of history and the experts’ warnings, why did the neocons and Bush and Cheney hold their nose and jump into Iraq? I don’t accept that the Bush administration truly believed Saddam had nuclear weapons. Back in 1962, using ancient technology by today’s standards, we learned that Cuba had nuclear weapons (stored there by the Soviets). Knowing Cuba had nucs, we threatened war.

In Iraq, there was no substantial evidence that Saddam had nucs or was close to having nucs.

I’m left to ponder - What was the real reason we went into Iraq? It’s possible that Bush knew he could not be honest and still get the support of the Congress and the People. It’s possible he believed there would be a long drawn out serious insurgency, and yet he lied about his beliefs.

It’s possible he took a very long view, lying to the people so that we could get a foothold in the Middle East. From that foothold, we could better-deal with Iran and Syria if it came to that.

I hope Bush was smart enough to take such a long view of the unbelievably large investment we would have to make in Iraq, and the incredible human suffering we have caused. And of course I hope it all pays off in the end in terms of world peace and security. I am watching for Bush to begin laying such a long-view foundation as the months roll by, as if such a long-view were always on his mind rather than the alleged imminent threat of nuclear attack by Saddam.

FT.com / Home UK - Foreboding over Iraq war spreads to conservatives

Even among the strongest advocates in Washington of the war in Iraq there is a sense of alarm these days, with harsh criticism directed particularly at the draft constitution, seen as a betrayal of principles and a recipe for disintegration of the Iraqi state.

Expressions of concern among conservatives and former Iraqi exiles, seen also in the rising disillusionment of the American public, reflect a widening gap with the Bush administration and its claims of “incredible political progress” in Iraq.

Over the past week, two of Washington’s most influential conservative think-tanks, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation, held conferences on Iraq where the mood among speakers, including Iraqi officials, was decidedly sombre.

Kanan Makiya, an outspoken proponent of the war who is documenting the horrors of the Saddam regime in his Iraq Memory Foundation, opened the AEI meeting by admitting to many “dashed dreams”.

. . .

“If we quit now,” said Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, in a speech at Princeton University last month, “we will embolden every enemy of liberty and democracy across the Middle East.