The U.S. Has Lost the Mid-East War

01/31/2006

Paul Munnis

The results of the Iraqi elections are in… and the winner is… “Iran.”

Huh?

Yes it’s true, the Shiites of Iraq have the right to form a government and they are free to join hands with the Shiites of Iran. Between them they have lots of oil, plenty of military arms, nuclear weapons facilities, missile delivery systems, and a very strong standing army…

Oh, they also have Democracy on their side. These are duly elected governments in the best tradition of Democratic elected government.

This union of Iraq and Iran will restore the ancient lands of Persia to once again become the king-pin of the mid-east. All mid-east trade and all mid-east commerce will revolve around and be routed through the new Persia. All that is lacking is a handshake and people are just waiting for the right time for that to happen. Announcements about their union of Arab States will just be an anti-climax.

America is rattling sabers and threatening to strike Iran and to knock out its capabilities. We are also threatening to refer the case to the UN Security Council with recommendations for economic sanctions. It’s all phony stuff scripted just for domestic political effect. The world needs Iran and Iraqi oil real bad and if the U.S. doesn’t get its share then the oil quotas will instead be given to China, India, Pakistan, France, Germany, etc. Those people are not going to let the U.S. upset the world’s petro-politics for even one more hour anymore. Sure we can knock Iran out… but then what? The bombers fuel tanks will go dry, our ships will stop in mid-ocean, and our military options will dry up.

For the U.S. the jig is up. We hear that Bush will sing the song of alternative energy tonight, seeking harmony in the wake of his defeat. That’s all that is left to him as he tries to pick up the pieces of his failed foreign policy.

In our opinion Bush is a day late and a dollar short. Let’s face it. Bush blew it. Now he wants us to elect more of his Party and to give them Congress to rubber stamp his nonsense for another two years. Not a very likely scenario, but then U.S. voters have done some really dumb things before where this GOP Party is concerned. They could do it again falling for more Bushie gimmicks instead of demanding solid results oriented programs.

Whatever goals Bush announced for the invasion of Iraq have been badly thwarted. No WMD, no oil, no regional focus on joining hands with the West, no relief for Israel. And Democracy has been made a mockery of. There isn’t a darn thing left to salvage in the mid-east that we can see. This is Bush’s ‘Good Friday’ and we doubt if he will rise again from the political dead.

Yes, the oil is gone, the goodwill is gone, Democracy has been turned upon us, the Iraqi’s have elected Shiite’s and once they have joined hands with the Iranian Shiites then they will have a stranglehold on the whole region. That stranglehold includes the Sunni’s and the Kurds as a part of the Arab Shiite death grip on the mid-east. This leaves Iraqi minorities very few options: Accept the Shiite rule; or, rebel and go for civil war; or, break away from Iraq and try to form a new nation/state. For the minorities it’s a funeral situation.

Meanwhile, we have a mess in Israel and Palestine. Hamas is the duly elected democratic government of Palestine. The PLO are now ousted from government rule. They were replaced by terrorists. In Egypt, the bad guys have been democratically elected to 75 seats in the Egyptian Parliament. More terrorists have won.

Pulling the financial support rug out from under the Palestinians is an option that assures the destruction of Israel. The alternative is to promote Palestinian Civil War. Lots of good choices there huh? Bush has set that effort back by 57 years at least and the body count could rise dramatically..

Democracy has spoken and the U.S. has lost its mandate to even be present in the mid-east any longer. Forget fighting Jack Murtha, just get the boots headed home after finding some dumb excuse for withdrawing. That is the only option left open for Mr. Bush or his successor.

There will be some death agony as people come to recognize the reality of this situation. Then the usual shock, sorrow, anger, finger-pointing and retribution cycles will happen. All of this will be to the tune of higher energy costs, rising inflation, devalued currency, shrinking jobs, failing businesses, and one mighty angry electorate. The GOP will try to blame Democrats and that too is futile. Democrats will be told to pull Americas chestnuts out of the fire and if that doesn’t happen within 72 hours of their election then the GOP mud-in-the-eye propaganda machine will start to tear America apart blaming Democrats for this mess. We will have to suffer these fools gladly and be grateful for the chance at picking up the GOP’s fallen pieces. Bah, humbug.

Bush and the GOP had their shot at Iraq and the U.S. Economy and they blew both opportunities. Following the State of the Union Address you can expect the rats to jump ship and head for safer shores. Bush will be left to turn off the lights at the White House.

What must Democrats do? First get elected to Congress. Then recognize that we need to take on a long hard list of miserable reforms and that it must be done very fast, and then find a way to do it in a bi-partisan manner with no further-ado. If the voters want us to succeed then they had better send people to Washington who will work to make reforms happen. Otherwise get used to living in abject poverty.

Tonight, Mr. Bush will posture before the cameras. Just realize that you are hearing one of his last arrogant speeches before his resignation speech is delivered. It won’t be too far off now.