They were harsh critics of the war in Iraq. From the outset, the two men were harshly, harshly criticizing every aspect of the Bush administration's war effort, becoming a great thorn in the side—“Ugh! Those two”, Bush once said to an aide, “Pray spare me their harsh critical comments!”—penning philippics denouncing the waste and cruelty; but then they went to Iraq itself and ran the four corners of the country, quizzing everybody they met, even learning a smattering of the rural dialects of the various far-flung people to get their input, talking to tribal elders, the youth, US Special Forces, ordinary GIs, shopkeepers, nomads unknown even to the pages of National Geographic. And they came back grudging admirers of the war! Yes! That's Michael O'Hanlon and Ken Pollack, the two notorious harsh critics of the Iraq war, seeing light at the end of the tunnel. You know, sometimes you just have to man up and admit that everyone was right and you were wrong. It hurts, but ... gosh ...

Oh. I guess it turns out they were really in favour of the war all along and only spent a couple of days in the Green Zone in Baghdad, talking to people who are running the war. I bet it was pretty hot there, if you were out at the pool. But the story is good.

Labels: People Who Couldn't Agree More Despite Themselves