The intervention

We had a number of things end this week besides one party rule. The most significant, this week marked the end of the Cheney Presidency. With the departure of Rumsfeld it became obvious that the keys to power had been snatched from the adolescent in the White House and his crazy friend, Dick Cheney, had been sent to his bunker. From The New York Sun.
Rumsfeld Resignation Bodes End of Bush Doctrine

WASHINGTON — President Bush's nomination of his father's second director of central intelligence to replace Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is being interpreted by hawks here as a signal of the end of Mr. Bush's foreign policy doctrine and of a new willingness to negotiate with America's enemies.

Robert Gates, whose career in the CIA and National Security Council spanned 27 years, in 2004 co-chaired a task force on Iran for the Council on Foreign Relations. The group recommended that America engage directly with Iran and warn Israel not to take military action against Iran's nuclear reactors.

Today he is a member of the Iraq Study Group, a 10-person commission chaired by a former secretary of state, James Baker. That panel is likely to recommend, as The New York Sun reported first on October 12, that Mr. Bush abandon the goal of making Iraq a stable democracy and that the White House reach out to Syria and Iran in order to stop the bleeding in Baghdad.

There will be a new Iraq policy and it will be what the Iraq Study Group led by the Bush Crime Family man James Baker III proposes. Secretary of State Condi Rice will have some additional power along with some new guidance.

While Bill Kristol and the rest of the neonuts at the Weekly Standard may be pleased that the incompetent Rummy is gone they are probably not too pleased with his replacement, Robert Gates. His appointment represents the return of the foreign policy "realists". The PNAC crowd is being shown the door. The age of the neocons has once again ended but remain alert. They will always be looking for another opening. Ironically the real loser here may be Joe Lieberman.

Note
For a snarky take on all this checkout Maureen Dowd's A Come-to-Daddy Moment and Joe Gandelman has some thoughts on Dowd's commentary.

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The intervention - continued