Thank God for the Death of Neoconservatism

The same week the war in Iraq began, arch neocon Richard Perle wrote an op-ed piece for the Guardian titled "Thank God for the death of the UN," which does a better job of explaining why we really invaded Iraq than the Bush administration ever has. One week later, Perle resigned from his post as chairman of the Defense Policy Board because of a conflict of interest controversy involving his representation of the firm Global Crossing.

Three years later, the situation in Iraq represents everything that is wrong with the neocons' Pollyannish approach to foreign policy. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama's excellent essay in the New York Times, "After Neoconservatism," gives a brief history of the movement, pronounces it dead, and yearns for a replacement that is just as hopeful, but not nearly as naive.