"(And there are lots of funny samples to enjoy about O'Hanlon. Like this video on his Brookings Institution profile page where, 11 years after 9/11, he's still pronouncing the first name of Ayman al-Zawahiri like it's, "Eyyy Man 'Nice Shot' Zawahiri." For equal measure, he mispronounces the last name too. Or the fact that his latest book is called Bending History in one of those unintentional Orwell-style reveals that could only be matched by George W. Bush deafly writing a book on family values called Bankrupting America.) But this kind of soft-pedaling of enemy gains and reaffirmation of America's mission comprises his default column. Our gains are important, but fragile, and they prove the other guy is losing, whatever it is he just did. Which is why we can't leave. Just give it another Friedman Unit.
Glenn Greenwald broke down this phenomenon nearly five years ago in a litany of quotes on the Iraq war from O'Hanlon and frequent writing partner Ken Pollack. As they downplay criticisms in the present, they often favorably cite some element in the past—which itself was subject to criticism deflected by praise of something preceding it. You can read the quotes in normal or reverse chronology and they manifest like two men in a three-legged race trying to step forward and backward at the same time, instead hopping endlessly in a circle. We must stay the course; we're dizzy and think we're gonna throw up another column.
What's frustrating is how expected this all is. The Brookings Institution—still billed as the "left-wing" think tank by conservative media—is just as much a corporatized centrist disappointment as every other major Washington institution. It's in the imperialism business: selling it, cheerleading it and then excusing it. (Just look at that donor list flush with arms contractors.) Asking Brookings or Michael O'Hanlon for a truly critical appraisal of the American presence in Afghanistan is like asking the people depicted in a Toyota ad for an accurate and critical appraisal for how good Toyotas make owners feel. I've bought you, war; "I love what you do for me!"" (thanks "Ibn Rushd")
