The Decider is now the Outsider

• The Saudis know it,
• Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki knows it,
• President Jalal Talabani and the Iranians know it.

In spite of having 150,000 troops on the ground in Iraq George W. Bush and the United States are now irrelevant when it comes to Iraq. When a raging bull runs wild in the pottery shop you don't ask the bull to stick around and clean the place up. It's becoming obvious to everyone but George W. Bush and his cultists that his misadventure in Iraq is now out of his control and as a result his influence is decreasing and in fact approaching zero.