We Are So Screwed

This is the analysis of the National Intelligence Estimate by the McClatchy DC Bureau.

Here are the first three paragraphs:

"One way to look at the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq released this week is to review what it describes as the best-case scenario.

"In that scenario, Iraq's security will improve modestly over the next six to 12 months, but violence across the country will remain high. The U.S.-backed central government will grow more fragile and remain unable to govern. Shiite and Sunni Muslims will continue their bitter feuding. All sides will position themselves for an eventual American departure.

"In Iraq, best-case scenarios have rarely, if ever, come to pass."

In other words, "we are so screwed."

So the best case scenario is a civil war in Iraq, only later. That is a far, far cry from the secular democracy the neo-cons in the the Bush Administration said would arise, back when they were saying that the Iraq War would pay for itself, we'd be greeted as liberators, and that the war would last six days, maybe six weeks but not six months.

Let's be frank about what is going on here: Bush is spending our money and the lives of our young people to pass this clusterfuck off to his successor. This is not about doing what is right or what is feasible, this is now only about avoiding blame. This is all about the neo-cons and Bush avoiding being held responsible for this war, they want to be able to go to their graves denying that they screwed the pooch. And Bush is being aided and abetted by careerists in both the Pentagon and the State Department who are hoping like hell that Iraq doesn't fall into the shitter on their watch.

Their hope to avoid the blame is, of course, a false hope. Unfortunately for them, historians are very good at walking back the cat and they have a lot of time to do that. The Bush fiasco in Afghanistan, Iraq (and possibly Iran) is going to be a gold mine for Ph.D. candidates. Some of the better talented writers may be able to make serious money from the books that will be published on these wars.

If Bush had a smidgen of integrity, he would fix his fuckup. But he doesn't; George Bush has never had to face the consequences of his bad behavior. At the core of his being, he is still the 20 year old frat boy who can count on his Daddy's influential friends to bail him out of a jam.

Well, not this time.

The blame for this mess is going to be hung around his neck, for when push coves to shove, the neo-cons will blame Bush for faulty execution of the war. They will roll over on him faster than Michael Vick's buddies did on him.

If the best case scenario does come to pass, Bush can read all about it, as he finishes out his days in a prison for his war crimes. The guards will probably be more than happy to pass the books to him.