Pat Buchanan has an article in his new magazine asking how we can define victory in Iraq. Buchanan was (and is) against the war, but not for the same reasons as so many in Ireland are. His view is that if no American interests are really at stake, then we have no business getting involved. He's skeptical regarding nation-building or even funding overseas development.
Although Buchanan is a terrible political candidate, his views do represent a segment of the American "right". He's opposed to free trade, immigration, and an interventionist foreign policy. My own suspicion is that if Iraq does become a mess for the US, views such as Buchanan's will become more wide-spread.
Many in Ireland (and Europe generally) seem to believe that the battle in the US is between "unilateralist Bush" and "multilateralist Democrats" (whichever), however I suspect that greater isolationism is the most likely outcome if the US does fail in Iraq.
