Simply Murder

Right now, I think the next two years are clear.

Iraq is Bush's legacy -- a monumental strategic disaster that relegates him to historical infamy -- along with his enablers and they are legion. From the neocons like Wolfowitz & Feith, Laurie Myolrie, John Bolton and William Kristol; to American imperialists like Dick Cheney, John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Donald Rumsfeld; to those who fall into the cult of Bush like Rove, Rice & Hadley. And finally, the media punditry which falls between the camps from the establishment like Broder, to liberal imperialists like Peter Beinart and finally the entire right-wing blogosphere who set a new standard for cheerleading the cheerleader.

Now a group of individuals come forth to try to make the "least bad loss" in the Iraq Study Group.

But no matter the recommendation, as Atrios has stated, it will all come down to Bush NEVER conceding the implications of his policy, of never accepting plain defeat, of settling for anything that will make him look like a failure. And to Bush that means leaving without his pony.

There is, therefore, only one thing that Bush & Rove can do. Find a way to place the blame elsewhere.

Bush will NEVER -- EVER -- start withdrawing troops on his own volition as it equals defeat. No, what they will do is quite simple.

He will force the hand of a Democratic Controlled Congress and make them do it for him. Eventually, they will be forced to cut the pursestrings. The overseas trips and digging out the old "It's Al Qaeda's doing" are for the sole purpose of Bush saying "okay we've really turned the corner this time" and somebody (just pick any pundit, they'll all be doing it) will proclaim once again, that we've gotta give this new plan another six months (F.U.s uber alles). And then five months and two-weeks later, voila, time for another pretend summit! Eventually the Democrats will have to say enough -- it won't be George Bush. Meanwhile soldiers continue to die with Iraqis in one of the cruelest farces ever wrought.

Thus a failed policy lingers and continues, so just like Vietnam, the right-wing can draw up a fiction -- that we would have won in Iraq if the Democrats didn't force us into defeat. Bush and his "Think-Tankers" can pretend that it all would have worked out great, but for those meddling liberals.

And then a month or two after withdrawal, Michelle Malkin can make up a story about how returning troops were spat on and the circle will be complete.

Some may call this craven plan "politics" -- those people we would call PUNDITS.

But to the rest of us, it is simply murder.

UPDATE:

And like clockwork:

RIGA, Latvia - President Bush, under pressure to change direction in Iraq, said Tuesday he will not be persuaded by any calls to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized.

"There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."