The Light At The End of The Carpal Tunnel Or, When Jonah Comes Marching Home

Frank Rich's column raises the question: What will the Fighting Keyboarders do when the war ends?

Wbat lies ahead now in Iraq instead is not victory, which Mr. Bush has never clearly defined anyway, but an exit (or triage) strategy that may echo Johnson's March 1968 plan for retreat from Vietnam: some kind of negotiations (in this case, with Sunni elements of the insurgency), followed by more inflated claims about the readiness of the local troops-in-training, whom we'll then throw to the wolves. Such an outcome may lead to even greater disaster, but this administration long ago squandered the credibility needed to make the difficult case that more human and financial resources might prevent Iraq from continuing its descent into civil war and its devolution into jihad central.

Sure, Mister Ed has his lucrative career as an Alan Hale impersonator to fall back on, and the PowerDrain boys can spend more time surfing for gay porn. But will the nation organize parades for the other vets as they emerge, pale and winded, from their familial basements? Will federal funds be available to treat those suffering from Cheeto Dust Syndrome? Will their sacrifice be honored -- or mocked?