Moloch Is Hungry

Because they were never broken and flogged from the company of civilized humans, because they were never stripped of their right to ever again blat their martial nonsense in public without being buried under a hail of rotten vegetables -- because the entire Mainstream Media jettisoned any last pretense of being on the side of the public good in order to link arms and protect them at all costs -- American Neocons are still out there.

Still utterly unscathed.

Still very gainfully employed:

The Fatal Flaw in Obama’s Dealings With Iran

Taking a collaborative approach to negotiating with bad actors always turns out badly. Better to coerce them.

By DOUGLAS J. FEITH

March 10, 2015 7:06 p.m. ET

Still being solicited for their opinions:

Richard Perle Really Doesn't Care What Jeb Bush Thinks Of The Iraq War Vote Today

Posted: 05/15/2015 2:28 pm EDT Updated: 05/15/2015 5:59 pm EDT

Still raking in millions by writing books about morality and touring the world lecturing on the importance of good character.

And still demanding that other people's children be fed into the abattoir of their imperial fantasies:

The Many Wars of Fred Hiatt: Mongering for the New Millennium 

...Because of the last war for which Fred Hiatt shook his moneymaker, the influence that the United States can bring to bear on centuries-old internal conflicts in Iraq is slightly less than that wielded at the moment by the Carolina League. Our aid makes us one friend and makes for that friend a hundred enemies.

The problem is that Mr. Obama has offered only halfhearted support for his strategy. While 3,000 U.S. trainers and other support troops are now in Iraq, they are not allowed to accompany Iraqi forces to the front lines or identify targets for airstrikes—crucial tasks that proved decisive when the United States helped local forces overthrow the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

First of all, Afghanistan is not yet quite secured, even for Afghans. Second, OK, Fred, sending someone's kid to accompany Iraqi forces to the front lines is putting them at risk, and a pretty fair tripwire for a large scale intervention down the line. (See: War, Vietnam The). The only thing the Washington Post editorial board wants to kill more than a few thousand brown people is Social Security. What a weird place that must be.

If I thought it would do any good, I would remind Fred Hiatt of the words of the Imbecile He Backed To The Hilt Back in 2004 (from the first Presidential debate, September 30, 2004):

Bush: Let me first tell you that the best way for Iraq to be safe and secure is for Iraqi citizens to be trained to do the job.

And that's what we're doing. We've got 100,000 trained now, 125,000 by the end of this year, 200,000 by the end of next year. That is the best way. We'll never succeed in Iraq if the Iraqi citizens do not want to take matters into their own hands to protect themselves. I believe they want to. Prime Minister Allawi believes they want to.

And so the best indication about when we can bring our troops home -- which I really want to do, but I don't want to do so for the sake of bringing them home; I want to do so because we've achieved an objective -- is to see the Iraqis perform and to see the Iraqis step up and take responsibility.

Bush:  ...a free Iraq is going to make this world a more peaceful place.

Bush: ...And I'm optimistic. See, I think you can be realistic and optimistic at the same time. I'm optimistic we'll achieve -- I know we won't achieve if we send mixed signals. I know we're not going to achieve our objective if we send mixed signals to our troops, our friends, the Iraqi citizens.

We've got a plan in place. The plan says there will be elections in January, and there will be. The plan says we'll train Iraqi soldiers so they can do the hard work, and we are.

Bush: There are 100,000 troops trained, police, guard, special units, border patrol. There's going to be 125,000 trained by the end of this year. Yes, we're getting the job done. It's hard work. Everybody knows it's hard work, because there's a determined enemy that's trying to defeat us.

Bush: ...You can't change the dynamics on the ground if you've criticized the brave leader of Iraq.  One of his campaign people alleged that Prime Minister Allawi was like a puppet. That's no way to treat somebody who's courageous and brave, that is trying to lead his country forward.

I invite Fred or any other WaPo employee to revisit just a few of the President Cheney's grand promises about the glorious future of Iraq here: "Ten Years Later: The Seven Nation Army of George W. Bush"

Still, I an kinda surprised that no one at the WaPo seems to remember anything about Dubya's Operation Endless Clusterfuck.

After all, it was in all the papers.