Via Yglesias 

The times change, but nationalism never ceases to be ignorant and obnoxious. 

Last year I remarked on the divisions the war would eventually create within the GOP, dubbing the hard-line Victory Caucus types the Dolchstoss faction on the assumption that they, or those who agreed with them, would begin making this kind of accusation.  You can already hear the refrain, “We were never defeated on the battlefield!”  Which, as Gen. Giap once noted after the war, was true but irrelevant. 

Perhaps I was a bit off in assuming that there would be some greater division among Republicans by this point.  However, related to the Dolchstoss faction, I said:

The Iraq failure will cut through the party and divide it into three very unequal parts.  The major schism will be the alienation of the hard-liners, represented in the ‘08 field by McCain and Gingrich, who are so much more aggressive on Iraq and foreign policy questions generally that they seem to inhabit their own universe.  They will ironically be perhaps the most disgruntled Republicans after an Iraq defeat, because they maintain the illusion that if their more aggressive, heavy-handed and brutal tactics were employed victory would be the inevitable result.  Call them the Dolchstoss faction.  Incredibly, they will spin the failure in Iraq as an example of what too much diplomacy and consultation cause, and they will tap into the resentment of a core nationalist constituency that will make the primaries very hotly contested.  Expect to hear a lot of talk from the hard-liner candidates who will claim that they are both smarter and ”tougher” than Bush was.  They will say, “Bush let us down because he failed to live up to our hype–but we will live up to our own hype!”  Since this involves starting many more wars and ruining the country, we may take them at their word that they will certainly try.  

I guess I didn’t realise just how much of the GOP would belong to this faction at this point.  Judging from the presidential field, it would have to be something like 60-70%.