Half formed thoughts on the last day of peace

Joshua Marshall the noted blogger talks about the need to shape the post war debate about our goals and policies in the Middle East. He speaks authoritatively about an internal dialogue within the Admin between those who want to "take out" Syria and Iran next and those that want to get it "did" and get out quick.
Clearly "you are next" faction's mind is made up and their barefaced motivation is hanging out there for all to see.
The "get it did" bunch is at a disadvantage owing to their lack of proximity to our famously lacking-in-an-attention-span Commander in Chief.

I've been thinking about this and the debate we must have after this god-damned war.
Syria backed us to the hilt in 1991 and I believe sent forces to help "liberate" Kuwait.
Ditto Egypt...
Iran spoke bitterly about the war but pointed did nothing when push came to shove....
If after the war the debate is limited to "who is next?" then shouldn't we be asking why the U.S. is turning our former "allies" from Gulf War 1?
An alliance even a tactical one with Washington doesn't seem to confer many benefits does it?
Think about that...
Bush II is could be contemplating toppling the very people whose acquiescence made his father's war such a success.
On the other hand, the kid is noted for his lack of interest in the boring post conquest details. So more than likely we'll cut and run if it gets dicey in occupied Iraq. If Afghanistan is any indicator we will do precious little nation building once Bush gets a look at real cost of the proposal.
That having been said, poor Hamid Karzai is looking less and less like Konrad Adenauer every day and more and more like Lon Nol the hapless ruler of Cambodia prior to the Khymer Rouge's seizure of power in 1975.
The Afghan President has been ineffectually rattling his tin cup for almost a year now to no avail.
And I think Iraq will ultimately go down the same way...a meaningless lightning victory followed by enough chaos and woe as to call the whole adventure into question.
Meanwhile Saddam will be sipping delicate pepper-flavored vodka on the veranda in Petro-Dalneye...just down the street from Nikita Khrushchev's retirement dacha.
Let us hope Humble John is wrong, for there is so much to be wrong about...