That man is too smart by half

Victor Davis Hanson chimes in on an apparently ill-advised Iraq criticism:

Noticed in the New York Times more of the old comparison of Iraq to Sicily, 415-413 B.C. But again, that might be a comparison that the writer would not like to make. Athens attacked not a dictator, but in Syracuse, the Greek world's largest democracy—sort of as if the United States in 2003 had suddenly invaded India. And despite Thucydides' own narrative of ample aid for the enterprise, the historian's own final assessment of the ill-planned expedition was that it nevertheless might have worked had those at home consistently offered their united support. And finally, Sicily did not wreck Athens, despite the horrendous losses of 40,000 and most of the fleet. Within months it was laying down new triremes, and lasted another 9 years, recreating an entirely new navy, inflicting terrible punishment on the Spartan fleet, unwisely refusing all peace-feelers over the next decade, all before being ruined at Aegospotami. Somehow a nation of 300 million losing 3,000 brave soldiers in an effort to depose a monstrous, mass-murdering dictator and foster democracy in his place, with a congressional vote of authorization, doesn't seem comparable to the Sicilian expedition-especially when the verdict is still out...

I've made that last point myself but of course since only about 10 people read this, it's not very well received, if at all. The fact that anyone would think making historical judgments--or in this instance comparisons--about Iraq while that history is till being made, boggles the mind.