At last the sailors said to each other,
‘Come and let us cast lots to find out who
is to blame for this ordeal.’ So they cast
lots and the lot fell on Jonah. — Jonah 1,7

The Bush Administration wants the Iraq war to continue past their term. The natural drawdown of troops can be announced, and credit taken now. President Bush gets to claim success and take another victory bow. This will give his flack catchers in the Congress enough cover for another six months. The Democrats have been checked. They have no move. Their chance to make a move has passed.

For the next president to solve the Iraq stalemate, he must cut the Iraqis free from our failures and mistakes that are sinking their country and region into catastrophic terror. This action would allow the Iraqis to solve the problem and bring their views to the world.

For there to be a successful Democratic president, Iraq must be solved while it remains a Republican cross. They won’t. Instead they see this as a bickering chip. The easy path is to discuss bicycle paths wrapped in highway legislation. They seem ready to lose everything, rather than lose their seat. It is impossible for the Democrats to demonstrate skill, it has been so long since any of them worked out their thoughts. so long since they tried.

President Bush can keep them cringing for cover, saluting his solution, thinking they’ll win in the end. They are wrong. This is a battle in which the last man standing is lost. Iraq will take down the next president, keeping her tied up in George’s vines long enough to swamp any domestic boat. The sand trap of Iraq can’t be played thru, so the next presidency will be one term. The Republicans will renew themselves and the Democrats will be succeeded by a Republican. A general arisen from and anointed in Iraq.

By conducting a feckless war, the Bushovics have been able to further dismantle the America they fear, and continue our castration begun by Reagan.

Gaining the peace at home is like playing Hot Potato with a live IED, even the winner loses something. This continues the Y2K collapse of American Empire. No transition without tremor. Trebuchets used to transfer our baton of state. Our gilded towns no longer Rouge, but rude.