What’s This War Doing Here?

Bush talked with reporters yesterday about “how to win a war that we now find ourselves in” as if we just “happened” to stumble upon a war while we were out minding our own business. It seems that even the President, the “decider” that took us to war with manufactured evidence and lies, is attempting to run away from his disastrous war of choice. No wonder he’s postponed his big speech on Iraq, he and his political advisors need more time to figure out how to outrun the stink hovering around him.

The Washington Post reported a few weeks ago that Dick Cheney was effectively summoned to Saudi Arabia to receive a stern warning that if the US pulls out of Iraq, the Saudis will go in to protect the Sunnis. The trip was originally billed as Cheney on a diplomatic mission (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one) to get the Saudis to cough up money for the reconstruction effort in Iraq, but a few days later the story changed to Dick having to sit still for a dressing down by the Saudis. Better watch out Dick, I haven’t seen the President hold your hand in public, but we’ve all seen him holding hands with then Prince (now King) Abdullah as they strolled along the shady lanes of Crawford.

I’m disappointed that we’ll have to wait until the new year to hear Bush’s “new way forward” in Iraq, but it’s not at all surprising that he needs more time to put together a campaign to market staying the course as something new. He bristled yesterday that he “won’t be rushed” into making a decision on Iraq, after all, he has many interests to consider, the Saudi interests, the American oil company interests, the neo-con interest and most of all his personal interest in remaining disconnected from anything resembling reality. Whatever substance his puncture proof bubble is made of, he should consider using it to surround Baghdad. Not even an RPG could penetrate that.