We don't have to take Joe Klein seriously do we?  He's a writer, not military strategist, and he's a tainted journalist, the guy who was wrote a fictional novel about Clinton and then lied about it to pretend he was impartial reporter.

As to whether people pushing for escalation are serious, of course they are but they were also serious when they said to invade Iraq.

More importantly is they are wrong again.

Even more importantly, the most serious issue is planning for the post-Iraq world where US oil supply is controlled by religious extremists in Middle East.

If someone wants to show how "serious" they are, lets hear about their post-Iraq plan to eliminate US oil imports and save the US from consequences of the defeat Bush Jr and the Republicans lead the US to in Iraq.