I think you're making a mistake by assuming the neocons raison d'etre is to push more defense spending. to me, their raison d'etre, (to the extent that such a goal can even be considered rational and coherent), is to, with the help of that increased "defense spending", establish hegemony over virtually all the vital resources on the planet and have dominion over other nations and peoples. Reading PNAC's seminal screed; [Rebuilding America's Defenses],(warning, large pdf file) clearly shapes this view, despite the attention the authors spent on the technical aspects of global supremacy.

In any case, the term "defense spending", when used by the PNAC gang is a misnomer, since in fact a huge portion of that spending is designed to be devoted to their "aggression against others", not to defense, despite the clever sophistry they employ to have us believe otherwise.

Also, I don't see Fukuyama's recent piece as a mea culpa at all. Quite the contrary. While he gives the appearance of repudiating the neocon ideology, in fact he is doing no such thing. Instead, he's done what Kristol did today; blaming others for the "incompetent" implementation of the neocon ideology upon not only Iraq but on the broader world at large.

And I think the reason the neocons are intensifying their propaganda along these lines now is because they know they're losing the iron grip they once had on the levers of power in this Bush regime. They are predatory narcissists to a man, (and woman), and as such they cannot and will not accept responsibility upon themselves for any failure. They will do anything and everything to defend the mythology that their own doctrine and purpose remains in a state of perfection. Just like Hitler blaming the German people for the failure of his insane quest for power; just like Pinochet, even now, still insisting the Chilean people owe him a debt of gratitude for his atrocities, the neocons cannot question the legitimacy of their delusional,insane ideology. And never could they allow a causal link to be perceived between their own dangerously flawed perceptions and the disasters that have resulted from the actions taken at their direction.

So the neocons now are ramping up their efforts to affix blame on others. From the beginning Bush, even though they made such effective use of his empty head and petulant imbecility, has always been the main fall guy for the neocons. It's his presidency, and in the end, as the heat grows, Kristol and his ilk will transfer  more and more blame, just like they're doing.

Watch for Rumsfeld to get axed soon, and Hadley perhaps. Bolton might even go. These have been unknowing scapegoats the neocons have had set up to take the blame since the beginning.

Denial is our most dangerous adversary.