I did discuss the Wikileaks memos with a number of people yesterday, as to whether I should do an analysis. But, scanning the diverse reports, one can only conclude that the papers offer something new, in principle, only to those who have not already been paying attention.
Thus, the main effect of the "stolen" memos is to give the anti-war media – which accounts for most of the media these days – an opportunity to ramp up the rhetoric which, in the not too distant future, will have us out of there.
Certainly, my attitude to the war changed, gradually over time. Our original stance was supportive, but taking the view that we should either do things well, or not at all. The emphasis, therefore, was on exploring what might be done or should be done, to help us prevail.
By this time last year, short of a couple of weeks, it became clear that nothing we are doing or can do will have the desired effects. Our politicians and military are living in a fantasy world, the only escape from which is to pull out our troops entirely.
Once that Rubicon is crossed, there is no going back. There can be no real debate or discussion as, to borrow from the warmists' litany, this is "settled science". The Wikileaks memos cannot change the minds of those whose minds are already made up, and determined that we should leave, so the net impact on us is nil. We have already bought the proposition.
But, if the "leaks" make the lives of politicians that little bit harder, that is a good thing, especially if it brings us closer to the day where we stop wasting lives and money on a futile endeavour.
Patrick Cockburn in The Independent says that the battle to justify this as a war worth fighting "just got a lot harder." He's dead wrong there. It didn't just get harder. It just got impossible. The sooner we all recognise that, the sooner our troops can go home.
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