The turkey was already there.

Sometimes Op-Ed writers make the job of criticizing them far too easy.

David Ignatius uncorks a doozy of a revisionist fantasy that doubles as an attack on Vice-President Dick Cheney's defense of current interrogation practices.

This paragraph at the end, I think, is especially off base:

We must stop behaving as if we are in a permanent state of war, in which any practice is justified by the exigencies of the moment. That's my biggest problem with Vice President Cheney's anything-goes jeremiads against terrorism. They suggest we will always be at war, and so it doesn't matter what the world thinks of our behavior. That's a dangerously mistaken view. We are in a long war but not an endless one, and we need to begin rebuilding the bridges to normal life

Mr. Ignatius is almost reasonable throughout this whole piece, but his conclusions are wrong. The idea that we were a paper tiger and that we can be wearied into turning victory into defeat (like in Vietnam) is one factor behind Al Qaida's growth in the 90s and their continued attacks in Iraq.

Every moment, and every statement that a public official of the U.S. government makes must convey in the strongest possible terms that we will fight, that we will hunt down terrorist, and that we will be resolved to win a long hard war. Any less will give evil hope. Any less will damage our country far more than Abu Ghraib related P.R. problems. I personally think the Vice-President is wrong in his defense of the current position, but I don't believe for one second that he is losing us any true friends, or manufacturing any new foes with his words. Let our enemies fear us, let's encourage that fear, let's place so much fear of our might out there that the next generation of jihadis will decide that 72 virgins aren't worth it. That's what the Vice-President and President are doing and I say keep on keeping on.

In the opening paragraph Mr. Ignatius wrote, "I liked to give a sentimental toast when the turkey arrived at the table" well sorry, but judging from this piece the turkey was already there.

UPDATE: linked to wrong article, now fixed