After reading your post Eddie it reminds me of a Dennis Miller political commentary something to the effect that he voted for Bush because he felt that we needed a president aftern 9-11 that was a button pusher, take no prisoners type as opposed to John Kerry who, because of his service in Vietman, who would think of the reasons for his next move 15 different ways before making a decision.

So, I tend to agree with your hypothesis as the Bush neocons didn't understand the magnitude of the US commitment for this post war mission due to their lack of service.