Where's Sancho Panza Now?

Three years ago yesterday, George W. Bush was the happiest and most powerful man on the planet. Standing alone taking the salutes of thousands of happy sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was obviously the high point of his presidency. Weapons of mass destruction would soon be found in the Iraqi sand, and the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda would be established in short order. Like a Roman conqueror, the president would schedule a parade in Baghdad where the happy residents would strew flowers before his motorcade.

But it all blew up on him. No WMDs, no dots were connected between the bad guys, and there would be no flowers.

Resilience had to be the name of the game. The invasion was still good, and the overthrow of Saddam’s government was reason enough for the sacrifice of blood and treasure. Americans had always sacrificed for the long range good, and this great effort would afford us the opportunity to establish a democratic government in Iraq that would stabilize the region and serve as a model for the Muslim world.

But that scheme is crumbling like so many sand castles before the relentless desert wind. Now the administration is beginning to come to grips with reality; a strong democratic central government in Baghdad is looking less likely with each passing day. The dream of a stable Iraq anchoring the region against its powerful neighbor to the east grows dimmer, and Iran has far more influence in the region than when we began the adventure.

Now we must find still another new rationale as the casualties mount and as the fiscal abyss yawns before us. Perhaps a strong central government isn’t really that important; self governing Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis may not be as bad as we originally thought. Maybe we could even live with a completely partitioned Iraq. Why even a civil war to settle this mess once and for all might not be so terrible.

Yesterday, Senator Joe Biden proposed the weak central government option. Even six months ago that would have been labeled a traitorous cowardly end to the war and the sacrifice of our brave troops, but the turd was met by only quiet contemplation by the president, his bellicose number two, and by the former rock star unhappily ensconced in the Pentagon. Where are the calls for Biden’s head by el Rushbo, Hannity and The Great One? Are the swift boats restricted to port for lack of affordable petrol?

Now we look eastward to Tehran with far fewer options and lots less confidence. Trouble brews and our man on horseback looks far less resolute and his steed looks more like a burro. George Bush is a rapidly shrinking president, and we are stuck with him and his Republican cheerleaders on the Hill until January 20, 2009. Well maybe not, there’s an election in November and just maybe there’ll be some oversight accomplished starting in the new year of 2007.

Had enough? Vote Democratic!

Blog on!

Wild Bill