The Light at the End

Milwaukee's Jenital led with maybe the most idiotic headline since the New York Post's "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar," after last night's read from the White House library with their banner, "Effort in Iraq 'Not Open Ended.'" Now it is in quotes and Mr. Nueman did say it but if one were at least sentient they would have noticed that thrust of the words actually uttered were that he was escalating the troop levels over 21,000 and asking for billions more for the losing effort.

Bush has no other choice from his vantage point. If he were to withdraw now the Hawks would howl and his disaster would be confirmed in the eyes of all except those fed on a steady diet of Fox and Rush who still crow daily over the new construction of some school in the outskirts of Baghdad. He also could not act as if all was well in wonderland given the headlines and the outcome of the elections. He had hyped the Iraq Study Group and some action after the election so he took the only alternative that can buy him two years or so so he can wash his hands of the mess in 08.' Escalation is the proper word. He would have asked for even more troops but we are tapped out unless there is a major change in grand strategy-fighting two wars at once. Thus his call late in 06' for an increase in the size of the Army.

Sadly the Iraqis and a few (relatively) US soldiers will pay the price for the war party's hubris and cynicism. And then they will hand it off.

A sad day indeed.

The profits of war and why "we" fight.