Of all the things George W. Bush has said lately that strike me as unfortunate, I think the topper may be his recent claim that we're "kicking ass" in Iraq. Obviously, one can make a pretty good case that we're not kicking any asses but our own — but even if Bush is correct, it's a horrible way to look at the situation…like this whole operation is just about America proving it can beat anyone in a bar fight. Sadly, I think a large chunk of Bush's support on this war really only cares about that. The cost of the war in both human and financial terms can be ignored and so can the reality of Iraq's future. Just so long as we convince ourselves we're tough…and, oh yeah — that we weren't wrong to get into this war in the first place.