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In the first three paragraphs of the Friedman piece he outlines the case of a member of the Iraqi Parliament who was facing sanctions for visiting Israel but who was defended by the Iraqi high court and by Iraqi intellectuals.
In the true spirit of the Empire Pimp that he is, Friedman is illustrating the context of how any increment of movement towards successful Iraqi self-governance is to be discussed. Any "progress" (btw, after I break both your legs, your rehabilitation also counts as progress) shall be credited to American Empire. As advocates of Empire always do, Freidman and company will claim any fruits, no matter how belated or minimal or disproportionate to their cost, as indicators of our rightness.
Thus Freidman can say without worry of reproach, "...the most important reason for the Iraq war: to try to collaborate with Iraqis to build progressive politics and rule of law in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world...".
There is, at their core, very little difference between this statement and the more nakedly aggressive and violent Friedman statements which Glenn documents. And, just as is true of those other statements, nobody would dare say something this barbaric and intellectually untenable -- that war is a legitimate delivery system for "progressive politics and rule of law" -- unless they felt secure that the presumption of imperialistic righteousness was shared by their establishment cohort. Which of course, for the most part, it is.
Revision for people like Friedman is never about fundamental examination and repudiation of raw power -- about revising our actions -- but about which mask we should put on in order to view ourselves most favorably. Better to revise self-image than policy. If the "kickin' ass and takin' names" posture can't be sustained then we'll try on the costume of the beneficent progressive collaborator. Empire requires replacing the narratives of self-perception for maximum emotional resonance according to changing realities. This is Tom Friedman's adopted role.
Conversly, as Glenn points out, all failures will be laid at the feet of the flawed implementation of Empire, rather than the immoral basis of it. Even George W. Bush, once the heroic wielder of America's two-by-four, can be sacrificed in the service of Empire.
