Scott Horton at Harper’s makes an excellent point with respect to the withdrawal of the British military from Basra Palace.

Namely, that Gordon Brown is getting his troops out of the way in case the generals in Washington are crazy enough to obey an obviously illegal and stupid order to attack Iran. And to send a signal to Washington that he will not support such an attack in any way.

Personally I don’t think the Joint Chiefs are that dumb; but if they were my troops I’d be moving them out of the way too, because you never know. There’s usually someone in every army crazy enough to lead the Charge of the Light Brigade.

But we’ve used up quite a number of those already. Once they begin to see reality, they must be replaced. Eventually there are no left-handed pitchers remaining in the bullpen, and we’re forced to pick a war czar — it’s hard to believe that Americans can pronounce that title without flinching — who was publicly against the current strategy. (I suppose he’ll soon be blamed for the defeat; but why would an honest person accept that job?)

Like the high-ranking officers who are supposedly ready to resign rather than participate in an attack on Iran, we’ve caught on to Cheney’s shell game. Bush, of course, will never catch on. That’s why we like him: his beliefs are strong, if ridiculous, and he doesn’t question himself: ignorance is bliss.