Note: My title refers only secondarily to Bill Quick, and not at all to Jason Soon.

VodkaPundit quotes the Independent as saying that the conquest of Iraq could take as little as a week. There are a number of reasons why quick may be more important than soon in timing an invasion of Iraq:

1. A devastatingly swift blow would have a stronger psychological effect on allies and enemies (both actual and potential) than a slow and messy slog. If Saddam's régime crumbles like a sand castle in a hurricane, it will encourage and discourage all the right people. Arranging such a collapse is worth a few extra weeks of preparation.
2. The American public is more likely to accept casualties squeezed into a short period than stretched over several months. All other things being equal, of course. And a quick war seems likely to minimize military casualties as well as their effect on morale. The same goes for civilian losses.
3. A quick war leaves little opportunity for China to invade Taiwan or North Korea South Korea. The longer our forces are bogged down, the more likely certain people are to get ideas. The need to deter them also requires conquering Iraq as efficiently as possible, that is, without leaving other sectors bare. Again, that takes careful planning and preparation.
4. If it is true that we have Special Forces on the ground in Iraq tracking Saddam's WMDs, it is likely that they are getting closer and closer to nailing down their precise locations. If they are also bribing locals for information, or to switch sides at the right moment, that also takes time. (Of course, this argument can cut both ways: if, for instance, the invasion takes eight more weeks to prepare, and Saddam is seven weeks away from finishing his first nuclear bomb, then we're really screwed.)
5. If Bush knows or supposes that Saddam has moved a nerve gas bomb or dirty nuke into the U.S. or one of its allies, he will naturally be trying to track it down before giving anyone an obvious incentive to use it.

I'm as impatient as Bill Quick and many others, but strongly suspect that it is not sloth or indecision that has kept the invasion from beginning yet.