The Opinionated Diner

Juan Cole is spot on today: "I have a sinking feeling that the American public may like Bush's cynical misuse of Wilsonian idealism precisely because it covers the embarrassment of their having gone to war, killed perhaps 25,000 people, and made a perfect mess of the Persian Gulf region, all out of a kind of paranoia fed by dirty tricks and bad intelligence. And, maybe they have to vote for Bush to cover the embarrassment of having elected him in the first place. How deep a hole are they going to dig themselves in order to get out of the bright sunlight of so much embarrassment?" Prediction: Bush will fly in on Nov 2, and the troops will roll into Fallujah and the many other towns run by local governments or militias, less than a week later. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Iraqis will die but the desired short term effect of allowing an election will be achieved. Many Americans think they deserve it anyway. Bush will, after the election in Iraq, claim victory and Bubba will buy it without question. The troops will go home in short order and Iraq will disappear off the Fox screen shortly after.