Their pessimism isn't really based in concern about Iraq's elections. It's really based in concern about the success of American policy in Iraq.
Anti-Bush partisans — both Democrats and Leftist ideologues — understand that if the elections are seen as a triumph, they will be seen as Bush's triumph, and they cannot stomach it.
Two things. First, no matter what happens on Sunday, Podhoretz and others will declare it a triumph, declare the Bush policy a success, and insist that widespread chaos and violence are how Arabs have traditionally celebrated successful elections. Second, bite me, Podhoretz. I, and I suspect a majority of Bush critics, would love to see American policy succeed in Iraq. The reason that American policy will not succeed, at least not according to any criteria that were set out before everything went to shit, is that the Bush team failed to adequately plan for the post-war occupation or to take seriously the potential for a significant insurgency, and moreover that they dismissed, in a huff of ideological fervor, the now-vindicated advice those of who knew better. Maybe if some members of Bush's own party, conservative pundits for instance, would have pointed these mistakes out to him instead of enabling and validating his Walter Mitty-like delusions that everything was on course, we might be in a position to expect a more positive result. In any case, suggesting that Bush's critics would prefer to see the situation continue to deteriorate, and Iraqis and Americans continue to die, rather than confront a Bush success is just vile.
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