Cognitive dissonance occurs when one's beliefs clash with the evidence at hand. Both can't be true. It is an anxiety-producing situation, and usually resolved by the person bending the reality.

"Magical thinking" in re Iraq is a Conservative reality, and fostered in order to minimize anxiety. They absolutely could not have made that big a series of mistakes, therefore the situation is still in flux. May still work out.

They add, by the way, it's not fair at all. "They" don't fight fairly, their neighbors and religious compatriots the Iranians are meddling, and Syria is rotten. Not our fault.

And farther on, had it been a "fair" fight, without interference, without religious overtones, had it been entirely differently, it would have worked.

Last, "they" hate our way of life, "they" hate freedom, "they" hate democracy.

That truly is "magical thinking". As "magical" as crop circles, for instance, where the reality is easily explained and folks still believe in extraterrestrial causation.

Arf