Sorry, but your victimhood narrative doesn't fly.

First while the intelligence on Iraq wasn't as good as it could have been, the CIA analysts from the beginning were cautioning the administration that Saddam's weapons programs were not in the kind of shape the neo-cons were painting them. The administration decided to manufacture evidence, use outside sources, and then when they were caught -- first try to discredit the messengers (Remember Plame/Wilson?) and then when that didn't work pin the blame on the professionals over at CIA.

Secondly there was near unanimity among people in the country over the invasion of Afghanistan. Going after Al Qaeda in their nest seemed just logical. It was low hanging fruit, and had our country been serious about it we could have made a positive difference by doing so. The issue most of us liberals and progressives had was that the administration took the admitted causus bellus of Afghanistan and used it to manufacture one in Iraq. Most of us were also furious that resources needed to actually flush out Bin Laden or help establish democracy in Afghanistan were diverted to the Iraq effort before almost it had even begun.

Finally the administrations unwillingness to commit sufficient, strategic, and planned resources to the Iraq and Afghan effort have virtually guaranteed SNAFU. If the "surge" is working, that is only proof that adequate resources could have accomplished some results much sooner had they been dedicated to the effort. As McCain said before he got coopted what was needed were sufficient "boots on the ground" to get "the job done." But without strategy, negotiation, and diplomacy, no number of "boots" are ever going to get the "job done" because the job that needs to be done is to re-establish dignified civilian rule -- and that is a political/diplomatic task. Add to that the lawlessness, looting and poor tactics of our leadership in both countries, torture and unlawful killing of civilians, and for every Khalilizad talking about how people in those two countries love us, we have 10 people shooting at us or volunteering to act as suicide bombers. Good job "brownie."

In short it is not "dems" and "liberals" who are being unrealistic but you and your Bush cheerleader squad. Yes, when (not if) we withdraw our occupying forces we may leave behind a bloodbath -- but that is why the calls to negotiation, diplomacy, strategy,... in the first place. We've been floundering around in this abstract terror "war" for seven years now without really doing anything but terrorizing people. If current strategies continue we will have wasted thousands of lives and still only caused a bloodbath and elected Al Qaeda into a real political force in the Sunni mideast.

Chris