Flipmode The Imperial

Usually I leave the Krauthammer-bashing to my brother in Cheeto dust Matthew Yglesias. But today’s CK column, "Maliki Votes For Obama," is notable for its plain-spoken imperialism. Well, not plain-spoken, exactly — he remains euphemistic. But at least he’s up front about what he calls the "fruits of victory" in Iraq:

McCain, like George Bush, envisions the United States seizing the fruits of victory from a bloody and costly war by establishing an extensive strategic relationship that would not only make the new Iraq a strong ally in the war on terror but would also provide the U.S. with the infrastructure and freedom of action to project American power regionally, as do U.S. forces in Germany, Japan and South Korea.

In other words, conquest. Notice that Germany, Japan and South Korea all welcomed, and welcome, a U.S. troop presence. What’s great about this column is that Krauthammer acknowledges that the Iraqis desire no such thing:

Any Iraqi leader would prefer a more pliant American negotiator because all countries — we’ve seen this in Germany, Japan and South Korea — want to maximize their own sovereign freedom of action while still retaining American protection.

That last part about "retailing American protection" doesn’t really apply to any Iraqi leader — Moqtada Sadr, for instance, would be perfectly happy without any such protection. But let’s put that aside. Krauthammer thinks that the Lombardi Trophy of the Iraq war is permanent occupation — say, 100 years, or make it 1000.

Update: Joe Klein writes:

This has always been the bright line of the Iraq debate, and remains so: whether to leave or stay once Iraq was stabilized. Those who want to stay have a vision of a U.S. imperium that makes most Americans (and the rest of the world) uncomfortable. It’s good that Krauthammer has laid out the stakes so clearly. Happily, it’s an argument that he’s going to lose.

I agree with Joe. Krauthammer isn’t really a neocon, he’s a syncretic being, bred out of bile and malice and resentment. If neocons are Orcs, think of Krauthammer as an Uruk-Hai. As a result, he doesn’t get what Kristol or the Kagans or McCain or Bush gets, which is that for American imperialism to get off the ground, it has to cross-dress in a millenial version of humanitarian redemption. (For example, this.) Krauthammer, considering himself a clearer-eyed version of the neocon softies, prefers the 180-proof Prussian version. Americans tend to be horrified by that, sensibly, which is why Joe’s right.