Incompetence: A Myth?

Mickey Kaus raises a good point:

Polls show doubts about President Bush's ability to handle the Iraq war but relative confidence in his approach to the larger war on terror. It seems to me this gets it backwards. On Iraq, I'm highly suspicious of the strident attacks on Bush's prosecution of the war from those who pushed the war (like Andrew Sullivan, Christopher Hitchens and the editors of New Republic). Arguing that Bush horribly botched the job is one convenient way of avoiding the conclusion that it was a bad idea to take on the job in the first place. (For example, what if we'd kept the Iraqi army--and then it staged a coup in a few years?)

I think Sullivan is the #1 blogger out there but I have to agree with Kaus on this. I have to remind myself that incompetence is not the main problem with Bush's policies, it just happens to be the best way to defeat him given the average American's inability to appreciate the importance of international consensus.