I wonder if the US administration realizes it cannot provide Iraq with a western style democracy ...

Yes, it does.

From here, though, you prefer to continue with the assumption that it does not -- and seem to wander off the deep end:

... it will have to drop the idea if it wishes not to know the same fate in 2004 as the Johnson administration in 1968.
1968 was saved by Apollo 8 (after recovering from the Apollo 1 tragedy).
Can 2004 also be saved by a space-relate event after recovering from the Columbia tragedy?

No space venture will "save" the president, Raoul. The issue here has nothing to do with beating the USSR to the Moon, and everything to do with retribution, success in Afghanistan and Iraq (admittedly more Iraq than Afghanistan), and the achievement of real peace (remember that dream?) in the Middle East.

Failure will only be achieved if the above success goes against DNC policy (i.e., a Republican does it first, or is at least holding the Oval Office seat when it is achieved). Still, even this is recoverable, provided the DNC can somehow make it look as if the success was really all their idea in the first place, and obviously hijacked by the RNC.

Believe it or not, we’re still on the right track,

Dan