Imperialism Isn't Popular

There's a way to strip Bush of his foreign policy credentials while not appearing to look weak. Part of that approach is to accuse him of ignoring the War on Terror (Why are we not inspecting items coming into the U.S. again?). But the other part revolves around the ingrained resistance of Americans to foreign entanglements. Via the NYT:

Mr. Bush on Friday made clear that the American commitment to the country will be long-term. Officials say the administration has begun to look at the costs of maintaining a force of roughly 50,000 troops there for years to come, roughly the size of the American presence maintained in the Philippines and Korea for decades after those conflicts.

How much political support do you think there is for this sort of adventure? I'm guessing that if you asked most people, they'd wonder why we were still in Korea or Europe. Bush's proposal gives the lie to the "democracy-building" justification for the Iraq War. Democrats and the media should demand an explanation. I posit that Democrats could win real dividends by making an issue out of the permanent occupation of Iraq, because nobody but imperialists and oilmen want to stay there forever.