"What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along?"

Well here's something that greatly comforts me.

I've been waiting days now for something from some leftist that has nice things to say about the dawning of democracy in Iraq.

Something from some leftist about how maybe the war was about more than a treasure-hunt for WMDs.

Something from some leftist that might touch on the host of reasons that forced us into war with a megalomaniacal dictator who credibly threatened us and our allies and his own people, and who acted on those threats on more than one occasion.

Something from some leftist that might reflect on the flip-flopping disingenuousness of the sainted Scott Ritter, who (hat tip to Tim Blair) in 1999 warned:

I have grown convinced that there has been a total breakdown in the willingness of the international community to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein is well on the road to getting his sanctions lifted and keeping his weapons in the bargain. A resurgent Iraq, reinvigorated economically and politically by standing up successfully to the United States and the United Nations, will be a very dangerous Iraq-one that sooner or later will have to be confronted by American military might.

(...I guess that was before Ritter was paid $400,000 to film a pro-Saddam movie by an Iraqi-American supporter of Saddam Hussein, Shakir al-Khafaji...)

Something from some leftist that didn't aid and comfort the enemy.

Something from some leftist that didn't sound like their hearts were breaking at the prospect of an American-style constitutional republic taking root in Iraq, despite the success of exactly that outcome in venues as diverse as Germany and Japan.

Something from some leftist that wasn't, at its root, a sneer.

Something from some leftist that rejoices in the truly good news at the core of the Iraq election-- news which by itself, by merely happening, shakes the Middle East to the enduring benefit of mankind.

Something from some leftist that rejoices in the blunt fact that the citizenry of Iraq defied saber-rattling from bloodthirsty islamist head-hackers and voted in numbers that simply stagger.

Something from some leftist that welcomed the Maalox Moments suddenly afflicting dictators, jihadis and theocrats throughout the region. This democracy thing can be catching, you see.

Something from some leftist that reflects awe that from the ashes of 9/11 arose profound moments of hope: first in Afghanistan, now in Iraq.

Something from some leftist that celebrates the end of enslavement for millions, including the burkha'd women who bravely trudged to the polls.

Something from some leftist that acknowledges this scintillating validation of the Bush Doctrine.

Something from some leftist that reflects on the wisdom of addressing the root causes of islamist terrorism, rather than lobbing the occasional cruise missile at an empty tent when headlines grow inconvenient.

Something from some leftist that acknowledges the necessity of ending terror-supporting regimes just as an oncologist strives to obliterate the blood supply to a metastasizing tumor.

Something from some leftist that revels in the proof that we--and the principles of liberty--can not only prevail in those allegedly inviolate Afghan mountains, but against the megalomaniac likes of Saddam, and against an urban insurgency.

Something from some leftist that grants that Iraq is the global Roach Motel for terrorists, and that they are losing.

Something from some leftist that admits that the modern art of terror upshifted with each and every display of appeasement, avoidance and weakness from the likes of Carter and Clinton, and that those days are over.

Something from some leftist that approves of how jihadis now must fear and respect America's newfound spine... and muscle.

Something from some leftist that celebrates a country no longer blithely unaware of the mounting threat, slumbering in a gauzy dreamworld woven over a decade of its leaders' conceits and malfeasance.

Something from some leftist that expresses gratitude for the sacrifice of fallen coalition troops.

Something from some leftist that decries how the Party of "Democrats" has morphed into the Party whose contribution to the rebirth of liberty in Iraq sums to hoots and derision.

Something from some leftist that notes how the Democrat Party should just skip right to the chase and rename itself the Benign Elitist Party, fast friend of tyrants petty and prodigious.

Something from some leftist advising John Kerry and Ted Kennedy to shut the hell up.

This comes close enough:

What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along?
February 1, 2005
BY MARK BROWN, SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting started -- not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least letting people know where you stood... But after watching Sunday's election in Iraq and seeing the first clear sign that freedom really may mean something to the Iraqi people, you have to be asking yourself: What if it turns out Bush was right, and we were wrong?

It's hard to swallow, isn't it?

[snip]

For those who've been in the same boat with me, we don't need to concede the point just yet. There's a long way to go. But I think we have to face the possibility.

I won't say that it had never occurred to me previously, but it's never gone through my mind as strongly as when I watched the television coverage from Iraq that showed long lines of people risking their lives by turning out to vote, honest looks of joy on so many of their faces.

Some CNN guest expert was opining Monday that the Iraqi people crossed a psychological barrier by voting and getting a taste of free choice (setting aside the argument that they only did so under orders from their religious leaders).

I think it's possible that some of the American people will have crossed a psychological barrier as well...

[snip]