It is possible to overlay the Right's
growing flirtation with isolationism and "peace" alongside Obama's increasingly aggressive and successful war against Al-Quaeda. It's a perfect correlation. Why are they suddenly questioning what they always boosted so enthusiastically?
Could it be that their new found dovish tendencies are solely due to the fear Obama might get some credit for showing some talent in that area?

The pivot point where the curves crossed was Libya, where the Right couldn't get its story straight and split down the middle; sometimes, the same guys urging both more military action and less, often within a few days of each other. Obama deftly finessed that one, simultaneously claiming the credit and avoiding the risks, and left them in total disarray in the foreign policy area. The myths of weak, indecisive Democrats who are soft on national defense are now being replaced by the reverse meme, that they are aggressive adventurists and engaged in (the horror), "nation building". What utter bilge.

My guess is the next thing we'll be hearing from this crowd is why we should stay in Iraq, but get out of Afghanistan. After all, Iraq is where all the oil is, as Cheney quickly realized.

But realistically, we will never eliminate Jihadism altogether. We can crush its financing, organization and infrastructure, as we are well on the way to doing, but as a movement it will always be there, just as there are still militant black organizations and skinhead white supremacists. These are grass-roots movements, and like cockroaches, you can control them but you can't exterminate them. In fact, it can be argued our military presence in the MidEast, no matter how benign or effective, is the Jihadist's main raison d'etre and most effective recruiting tool. Without us, they'll only have Israel to justify their fanaticism.

Is it time to leave? We are rapidly approaching the point of diminishing returns against Al-Quaeda, where continued war won't substantially reduce them any further, but where they may flare back up if we simply abandon the fight. I don't know what to recommend next here, I just don't have all the facts. Perhaps no one can answer that question for sure. But I hope the President has those facts. And I hope he makes the right decision.

I do know one thing. In power, the Right will reflexively do the wrong thing, just the opposite of whatever Obama would do. Other than creating a carte blanche and get-out-of-jail-free card for their corporate bankrollers and paying off their political debt to the wackofundos, discrediting Obama is their only policy position.

Just think, if it hadn't of been for those alleged WMDs and contrived Iraqi Al-Quaeda links, this would probably all be over right now. No, the right wing bullshit machine never had it right. Not from the start.