Bush – Lost in his own Labyrinth

When a leader, in this case our Commander and Chief, has to tell himself and his minions repeatedly that he is the decision maker or in charge, he usually is not. No one disputes GW Bush has executive powers. What is in doubt is who makes him act and talk so foolishly, and continuously make disastrous decisions. He reminds me of the actor in the film A FISH CALLED WANDA, where the main character smells his armpits to give himself strength and self confidence... GW Bush more and more appears as a lost soul; ironically, lost in the maze he has constructed.

VEEP Dick Cheney, our grand master of draft deferments, is by most experts believed to be Trilby Bush's Svengali, but he has higher priorities now than to rescue GWB from himself. Cheney is caught in a web of legal problems as he prepares to defend himself and his numero uno pistolero, Scooter Libby, with sworn testimony before a federal judge and jury. Cheney is the bold fighting flagship for the Administration. He is a formidable battleship, but since the 2006 elections, he must advance more carefully. Remember the BISMARCK was sunk, and more recently, the dreadnought RUMSFELD went below the waves...

Adding to his misery, this week two of Bush's own sleigh dogs turned and bit him. Two Republican Alpha males, Senators Warner and Hagel, stopped pulling the sled, broke their traces loose, and nailed him for his so called surge reinforcement into Iraq. Both are propounding a resolution, driving the point that more troops to Iraq is self-defeating. Bush has responded with smoke and mirrors by changing the subject. Out of the blue, said he is going to get tough on Iranians in Iraq who are busy foiling his stratagems and killing Americans. Did the rules of engagement protect Iranians shooting Americans? Unbelievable, you mean to tell me we were taking hits in Iraq from the Iranians before this announcement without smacking back with deadly force? If this is true, Bush may as well delegate his commander-and-chief authority to Donald Duck...

Reliable US intelligence sources claim up to 100,000 Iranian military advisors are now in Iraq – they provide training, military equipment and infernal devices mainly to Shiite militias. Under General Sanchez's and General Casey's noses, the Shiite militia has grown from about 8,000 to 100,000. Though not united, this force is spread in Baghdad and in Southern Iraq along the US Main Supply Routes from Kuwait. Actually the British troops that occupied Southern Iraq turned a blind eye on this penetration. This Iranian trained force moved into police and security units in and around Basra; as long as the peace was kept and British Petroleum interests were not trashed, coalition forces remained unperturbed. Even the police stations bore a Shiite militia recuitinting posters pasted to the walls. News reports from Southern Iraq are few and far between in US media since a US reporter was killed in Basra by police a few years ago... British troops are eagerly kissing Southern Iraq good-by in the next few months.

Uncertain what prompted Bush to announce publicly last week what he should have been doing in Iraq to counter Iranian operatives all along. One report is that the Deputy NSC neocon Elliot Abrams put him up to it to ratchet up the tension with Iran. Abrams, apparently dented by the Holocaust, also wanted Bush to call the Iranians Nazis, but Bush apparently did not bite on that hysteria. Perhaps Bush's statement was made to coincide last week with Israeli Premier Olmert's 251st declaration that Israel will not stand by as Iran goes nuclear. As leader of the free world, Bush might want to urge the premier not to panic and start WWIII... As president of the US, he might want ask to Olmert why he violated US/Israel accords and dropped US cluster bombs on civilians in Lebanon – Katuyshka rockets Panic?

There were two incidents last week in Iraq that underscored vulnerabilities of Bush's so-called “New Way Forward” that envisioned the embedding of US forces in Iraqi formations. One was at Karbala where five US soldiers were killed while advising locals on security arrangements – Iraqi security permitted insurgents disguised as English speaking American military personnel to enter the compound to kill and capture the Americans. One American was killed immediately. The other four were executed 20 miles away handcuffed to each other. One of the insurgents was reported to be blond haired. Why the US military stalled for days reporting the details of the incident is open to speculation. The other incident involves the US Iraqi military combined operations against Sunnis on Haifa Street in Baghdad near The Green Zone. Apparently the Shiite Iraq troops show up late for the operations – they are happy go lucky and let the US take lead in all operations. Saw a film clip where an Iraqi soldier knocked on a door to gain entry. When nothing happened, he stood aside as a US soldier battered down the door... General Patreaus, our new troop commander in Iraq, may have to revise his new field manual on counter insurgency.

In the last few days there appeared planted stories that link the deadly raid at Karbala to Iran. It is argued that it was too sophisticated to carried out by Iraqi insurgents – I do not know about that – al Queda certainly is capable and the Iraqis have cleverly demonstrated they can steal from the US occupation authorities with very little consequences. The striking thing about Karbala incident was that it appeared to be a hostage operation that went wrong at the end. Otherwise, why would the captives have not been killed on the spot rather than 20 miles away? The US holds diplomatic Iranian prisoners taken in a recent raid on an office in Iraq. So the incident could have been a retaliation operation that went haywire on the Iranians. Iranians, as Jimmy Carter learned, do not play by the Marquis of Queensbury rules, so this scenario cannot be ruled out. However, it should not be used as a Gulf of Tonkin or Pearl Harbor provocation for a second neocon war. There are other smarter options to punish the Iranians if they are in fact guilty of the raid.

Not that GW Bush does not have his hands full changing Secretary of Defense and military commanders in mid-stream, at a critical point in the Iraq war, but his political flanks at home have been turned by the 2006 Democratic congressional victories; his center is crumbling from bipartisan Senate resolutions. Perhaps the greatest blow to his ego is that Southern Methodist University in Texas is resisting accepting his planned presidential library on campus. Given the bloody nature of Bush's term in office, his library could develop into a chamber of horrors... If it does not work out at SMU, suggest he petition Israeli Premier Olmert to establish it in Gaza to be secured by Fatah and Hamas. Or if rejected, go to his Iraqi pal Maliki to establish it on Haifa Street in Baghdad to be guarded by Shiite militias or the Iraqi Army, as if there was any difference. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA RET