Oh this is good!

Thoughts while leaving the harbor:

Matthew Yglesias notes that the election plan instituted by Paul Bremner and for which he and the administration have received so much criticism originated with and was urged on him by UN officials. Most of the comments on this fact have simply noted its irony [example] but this reaction is too cheap and easy. It would appear that far more often than is appreciated the administration has consulted with and taken the advice of international experts. The image of neocon zealots doggedly pursuing a bizarre course of action while listening only to themselves, however emotionally satisfying or politically potent it might be, is inaccurate. This is the sort of nuance that historians are supposed to consider, but judging from the reporting from last weekend's AHA meeting in Seattle, there is more interest in political stereotyping than in doing real history.