For how long can you, "Hope he’s right"?

I'm always astonished at the similarity between war supporters and a woman married to a serial philanderer. Every single time they are told that the lesson has been learned and that things will be better from now on, they drink the Kool Aid and believe that now, at last, things will improve.

How else to take the right wing reaction to Petraeus and then Bush's little pep talks on Iraq? There have been mistakes but now - at last - we are on the right track!

This is how Pete Hegseth took the news over at The National Review:

Past mistakes in Iraq have put us in a tenuous situation there. But today we finally have the correct strategy and we’re finally taking the fight to the enemy in a comprehensive manner.

Oh, at last!

My question is how, after four bloody years of this nonsense, does a person manage to sum up the energy to once again put their trust in people who have been saying things are about to improve "in about six months time" for almost the entire length of the war?

Even Hegseth admits that this is not the first time that these claims have been made:

However, America has heard “by December…” before, and this time, it’s imperative that security improvements drive the predictions.

In May 2006, the US Ambassador was telling us that the next six months in Iraq "were critical".

In February of 2003 Donald Rumsfeld was stating:

"It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months," he said.

In February of this year:

An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq.

Indeed, there simply doesn't appear to be any period in this was when the "next six months" weren't critical.

"I think we are in the end game. The next six to nine months are going to tell whether we can produce a decent outcome in Iraq." --Tom Friedman, New York Times columnist, appearing on NBC's "Today" show

Indeed, this has become such a cliche that a timeline has been produced showing just how often the pro war brigade state that they only need "six more months" as this forthcoming period is "critical". It's well worth clicking on the link and having a look at it.

And yet still there are people hoping that "this time" they know what they are doing. Hegseth again:

Second, for the sake of this country, I hope and pray he’s right.

How can people keep that kind of faith going for over four years in which they are told every six months that the end is just over the next hill?

But, Petraeus has spoken and it matters not that he has been proven to be a wild optimist in the past, this time he means it. This time, they really do mean we'll see improvements in six months.

These people are the equivalent of betrayed wives who refuse to leave their unfaithful spouses, always believing that this time he means what he's saying.

But it's easier to have more respect for the betrayed wife as, at least, it's only her own heart that gets broken through her frantic wishful thinking. War supporters continue believe fanciful notions and lies whilst other people's children die for their beliefs.

And they have somehow managed, in their confused brains, to convince themselves that their stance is courageous.

It's rank stupidity. And other people pay the price for it.

Click title for Hegseth's article.