So why would you, if you're Boot, remain committed to the continuation of a war whose strategy you think is doomed to failure? An awful lot of the more intelligent hawks seem to be in this position. They don't want to endorse withdrawal, but they have no good-faith belief that continuing the war on any realistic course will produce a positive outcome. That, to me, is near the height of irresponsibility.
I don't know why people remain committed to this, but fortunately (warning: black humor alert) we'll have many more Friedmans to discuss this subject. As Greg Mitchell writes:
One deluded president plus an army of paralyzed editorialists = many more years of a war that is one big atrocity.