Dueling Delusions

What happens when delusions collide. Does that mean that they combine to become a super delusion? That one delusion wins and becomes the dominant delusion? That either view has a chance of linking to the real world. Let's see.
Representative Walter Jones, R-NC, called yesterday for the Bush administration to set a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq. This was a surprise because Jones had been the Congressman who first suggested renaming French fries into "freedom fries." It would also seem that Jones would have more than the average stake in the war because he represents the district that inclues the Marine training base at Camp Lejeune.
The Bush administration's spokesman Scott McClellan responded to Jones with the standared delusion that the insurgency is becoming "increasingly desperate." In the war with the insurgents, the Bush administration seems to equate effectiveness with desperation. The American military and its Iraqi allies have been conducting several sweep operations in Baghdad and Western Iraq lately, but those operations have been ineffective in places like Tel Afar because the insurgents just leave town and pop up in other cities. After the Americans are gone, the insurgents then come back none the worse for the experience. The U. S. just does not have enough troops to maintain a presence in an area after the sweep. So the sweeps don't accomplish much except for headlines back home in the U. S. Who knows, that may be their main purpose anyway.
The insurgents seem much more effective. The money is good, there are plenty of targets, and their attacks are shown on media outlets all over the world. The insurgents demonstrate their manliness and resilience against a superior American force and inspire more foreign jihadis to come in to lend assistance. So the insurgency continues to grow. In terms of the Bush standard delusion, that means that the insurgents are desperate.
But Jones has his own delusion. According to Rep. Jones, "Clearly we are giving the Iraqis every reasonable chance for democracy." In the spiffy new Jones' delusion, the Iraqis have been given "every reasonable chance" to form a democracy because we overthrew Saddam, allowed political factions to form, and conducted elections.
So, we should just leave it to the Iraqi government to quell the insurgency, end the sectarian chaos around Baghdad, sort out the various private militias, and find a way to deal with the Kurds that satisfies the Kurds without sparking a Turkish invasion. That's not to mention the economic catastrophe that we would be handing over to the Iraqis. The economy is in shambles, basic services are a wreck, and there probably isn't a tax base to finance the government. Yep, we did everything we reasonably could.
Maybe the politics of the Iraq war has become a duel of right-wing delusions. Maybe those of us on the left should start thinking of our own delusions. How about starting a fund to purchase anti-delusional prescriptions for right-wing politicians?