Marty Peretz, Scourge of the Ostriches: TNR's senior lib hawk slaps down those in his party who are blind enough or giddy enough with partisanship (or just plain churlish, as Peretz calls them) to not see or acknowledge Bush's great strides in the Middle East.

It has been heartening, in recent months, to watch some Democratic senators searching for ways out of the politics of churlishness. Some liberals appear to have understood that history is moving swiftly and in a good direction, and that history has no time for their old and mistaken suspicion of American power in the service of American values. One does not have to admire a lot about George W. Bush to admire what he has so far wrought. One need only be a thoughtful American with an interest in proliferating liberalism around the world. And, if liberals are unwilling to proliferate liberalism, then conservatives will. Rarely has there been a sweeter irony.

Ding. Give that man a cigar.

More: Even the frankly anti-war Reason magazine published this its April issue:

In fact, [Operation Iraqi Freedom] has fared much better than any reasonable person with a suitable respect for the chaos, madness, and unpredictability of war had any right to expect. What we are seeing right now in Iraq is the best possible outcome of the liberal hawks' grand vision. If they don't like the results, they need to reassess their expectations.