The elder rat jumps ship

We have seen nothing to indicate that George W. Bush is going to do anything but "stay the course" in Iraq. The question is how long can he get away with it. With old allies jumping ship the life of stay the course may be about over. Another blow to the Bush/Cheney cabal came from Henry Kissinger who has never seen a war or a friendly tyrant he didn't like.
Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible

LONDON -- Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.

Kissinger presented a bleak vision of Iraq, saying the U.S. government must enter into dialogue with Iraq's neighbors - including Iran - if progress is to be made in the region.

"If you mean by 'military victory,' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

Now nearly everyone outside the White House realizes that there will be no solution to the Iraq situation without bringing in Iraq's neighbors. That now includes Kissinger, the original lord of darkness.

Kissinger, whose views have been sought by the Iraqi Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker III, called for an international conference bringing together the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Iraq's neighbors - including Iran - and regional powers like India and Pakistan to work out a way forward for the conflict.

"I think we have to redefine the course, but I don't think that the alternative is between military victory, as defined previously, or total withdrawal," he said.

Cheney and his sock puppet Bush would rather drink poison than negotiate with a charter member of the "axis of evil". The fact that carrots will be required makes it even less palatable.