Judging Success in Iraq - Bush Needs New Demon

Those of us following the situation in Iraq closely tend to judge the success of the U.S. invaision by examining issues regarding the costs and supposed benefits that have resulted. We look at things like lost lives, taxpayer cost, infrastructure damage/reconstruction, whether the new government will respect human rights, etc.

The Bushies don't want you to look at these things but want to be able to claim it was all a success simply by mounting Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to the hood of their car. While Zarqawi's death is certainly a benefit, it's impact is likely to be nominal.

The bigger problem is that this standard for success - the elimination of the latest exaggerated demon - only misleads for the short-term. With Zarqawi gone, people will start looking only at the larger factual picture. Thus, the need for a new demon ... and today, unsurprisingly, the Bushies are parading around pictures of some dope named Abu Al-Masri.