John McCain joins the ranks of the Bush haters.

Oy.

MCCAIN IS BASHING BUSH ON IRAQ, and some people are pretty angry at him for backstabbing.

Once again, any criticism of the Dear Leader's misadventure in Iraq, for which McCain to date has been a slavishly loyal cheerleader, is deemed "bashing" and the motives of the "basher" are questioned.

It gets even putzier.

The substance of McCain's claim is pretty weak: I don't recall Bush ever saying that Iraq would be a "day at the beach," and in fact casualties to date are considerably lower than what was generally expected for the ground war to Baghdad, where you generally heard figures in the 10,000 range.

Yeah, the Bushies were right on the money with their pre-war predictions, Putz.

Rummy:"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Wolfie: "The Iraqi people understand what this crisis is about. Like the people of France in the 1940s, they view us as their hoped-for liberator."

Cheney: "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. I think it will go relatively quickly,(in) weeks rather than months."

Bushie: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."

McCain's obviously way off base. Clearly, the administration prepared us for the worst.

Something's missing here, though. What is it? Oh, right -- blaming the media.

It's more the duration, and the extent of the bad press, that has exceeded expectations, really, though McCain's pretty sensitive to bad press.

So it's "more" the duration of the war and the "bad press" that's "exceeded expectations." What about the cost?

[NY Times 12/30/02]

“The administration’s top budget [Mitch Daniels] official estimated today that the cost of a war with Iraq could be in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion… Mr. Daniels declined to explain how budget officials had reached the $50 billion to $60 billion range for war costs…”

[MSNBC 3/17/06]

"Even if the U.S. exits Iraq within another three years, total direct and indirect costs to U.S. taxpayers will likely by more than $400 billion, and one estimate puts the total economic impact at up to $2 trillion."

Geez, that sure looks like it's exceeded expectations, doesn't it? Oh, and about those casualties:

[MTP, 3/16/03]

Q: If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?

Cheney: Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators.

I really wish McCain and the liberal media would stop complaining and Bush-bashing, and fully appreciate the glowing success that is Bush's Iraq.

Update:

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