History does not erase mistakes

McCain was out whoring [1] for the administration again on the Sunday talk shows last week, this time in defense of its chief architect:

Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Republican presidential candidate who  followed Mr. Rove on "Face the Nation," said that history would decide whether Mr. Rove had been "good or bad for American politics," and that the assessment would depend largely on the outcome of the Iraq war.

I have to say that I'm getting a bit tired of the meme that somehow the executive and GOP's reputation in history will be intertwined with the Iraq war.  Sure, the horrible mismanagement of this conflict will haunt them throughout the foreseeable future, but the converse is simply not true.  If the American-installed Iraqi government somehow manages to stabilize over the next generation or two, it will not be because of, but in spite of the administration's role in its inception. 

If I set fire to my neighbors house and, after 20 years of homelessness while she battles her insurance company she manages to rebuild even better than before, does that mean she now owes me a favor??