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That the objectives of the neo-cons converged with the Bush administration's concern for national security on the issue of Iraq, does not make the President a neo-con.

If that were the only issue on which their objectives "converged," you might have a point. The problem is that the objectives of the neo-cons also converged with the Bush administration on just about every other hot-button issue that p!sses off real conservatives, too (open borders, massive increases in government spending, etc.).

open borders, massive increases in government spending, etc.

That is a tenditious comment, overgeneralized, and thus errant. If anything, neocons tend to be concerned about feckless spending, and saddling the next generation with feckless debt. They are not in love with the greedy geezers. Yes that is a generalization too, but more accurate than yours. What is a fair comment, is that Neocons are not isolationist, or protectionist, and wish the lone superpower while it can, to try to fashion the planet into a better place, to the extent practicable and prudent.

Was Reagan a NeoCon?

Reagan granted Amnesty to millions of illegals and darn near tripled spending. Reagan changed the world for the better, yet by your "REAL CONSERVATIVE" standards, Reagan was a NeoCon... What you are is a pessimist and a isolationist, much like the ultimate right wing pessimist and isolationist, Patrick J. Buchanan

In my reading of neo-conservative philosophy and development, they are defined by foreign policy views and objectives. It would make sense that they would be less concerned with domestics issues such as government size and spending than a traditional conservative though. But so are moderates less concerned about these issues, which doesn't make them neo-cons.

real conservatives

BS. You people are not real Conservative. From the Bordes to the Ports to Trade you want to build a massive Govt bureacracy to impose your deluded Neo-Isolations visions of Fortress America on the rest of us. You whould shovel whole sections of the Private Sector over to the Feds in the name of "Security". You are about as Far from REAL Conservatives as it is possible to be and not be on the Political Left. You have no intrest in limited Govt. All you people are is pissed that the Govt doesn't do what YOU want it to do.

The problem is that the objectives of the neo-cons also converged with the Bush administration on just about every other hot-button issue that p!sses off real conservatives, too (open borders, massive increases in government spending, etc.).

The word neocon has lost its meaning in that sentence. What you are left with is different governing visions and political strategies. I wish to God we didn't have the fact of this federal behemoth nanny state, the rapacious spending and entitlements, and I even think President Bush could have done something about it. He made it slightly worse with a policy agenda based on certain long-term calculations which haven't paid off yet and might never do so.

But I do agree fundamentally with his approach to economics and foreign policy (and don't forget we've made headway in the judiciary). I think most who fundamentally disagree with President Bush want to retreat to a "safe place" inside our borders. But the world doesn't work like that. The evils out there have to be fought out there.