Toxic Iraq

A person would not be exactly crazed to begin to wonder if there isn't something toxic, magically so, in the letters I*R*A*Q for the BushCo. It seems as though the quagmire developed its own reality, one that swallows every attempt George II makes to deal with it. Now he may not really have cared about WMD in his decision to invade, but it's real likely he wanted to find some.

The troops blew through the place, there was a little fratricide and mis-identified heroism - Jessica - but things pretty much went swimmingly, oil rigs standing and cities relatively unsmashed. Then. He did the aircraft carrier thing - flight suit and 'Mission Accomplished' and things went off the rails. Bhagdad looted, military supplies disappearing. A resented coalition administration, Muktada al Sadr and an unemployed army looking for something to do. Bombs, IEDs, and ambushes. From there every time George II might have thought things were looking up for him something intervened. He managed to get re-elected and got nothing. Iraqi elections presaged some of the bloodiest months, every half-step forward was stymied by several back. The public tired of Iraq and statements about 'dead enders', 'wolfensteins', and 'last gasps' as the violence ratcheted up. Cities were smashed, virtually nothing was accomplished in rebuilding, and death tolls climbed. The House and Senate Republican majorities went despite 'the math' and the SecDef went also. An escalation ensued (surge??) and the tolls climbed, a Sunni alliance was formed and its leader killed, corruption became the government watch word. Bhagdad began to get sorted out into sectarian enclaves and violence there diminished and US mercenaries murdered people.

Everything BushCo touches in Iraq turns to ashes in their mouths and the US public is in an ugly mood. Of course it's no magical incantation and it certainly isn't a case of whatever can go wrong will go wrong, all of it is the outcome of their decisions. Deeply flawed tactics, military and social, fed into themselves. Each decision held the seeds of failure, seeds that were evident when the decisions were made. "Mistakes may have been made," the CIC said finally, but every move has either been a mistake or sabotaged by other mistakes. The latest poison was poured by US mercenaries, a type of force warned against since Machiavelli wrote 'The Prince', a some what sorted out Bhagdad has American mercenaries promiscuously shooting up civilians and the neighborhood patrol tactic of US troops is undercut, Iraqi government relations poisoned, and public opinion further alienated (yes it's possible).

These people came into government with contempt for government and it's real tough to do a job you not only disdain but are unfit for. Incompetents and cronies flourished and were protected as things fell apart. Warfare and establishing a government are under the best circumstances incredibly difficult and unforgiving and these people scoff at the notion of governing and a large capable government.

But have no fear, it will all finally work out fine because this is all just an illusion created by a treasonous liberal media...

My heart just breaks for the families of the troops.