The Red Line

The Charlatan, facing the prospect of mutiny in Congress and a restive public in the streets, has decided upon a strategy of provoking war with Iran to quell dissent at home. His recent warnings to Tehran, the capture of Iranian agents in Karbula, and naval maneuvers offshore all indicate his willing to expand the Iraq war into a regional Armageddon. Such a nightmare scenario is, of course, consistent with his faith based delusions of defeating "an axis of evil". He really does need to be on the couch and not in the White House. Watch for the US to set up a"red line" to justify an attack on Iran as force protection. Letters from Congress reminding the President of its war making powers will be ignored.

Now that the Republicans in the Senate have refused to cooperate with the Democratic domestic legislative agenda as predicted here, Democrats should expend their energies impeaching the Charlatan before he begins drafting a bigger army for a much bigger war. The Brookings Institute forecasts doom if America leaves Iraq, but that forecasts assumes the Iraqis are irrationally bent on destroying their country and that Iraq's neighbors have no interest in containing a sectarian cvil war that could spill over into their societies. The US will loose its influence over events in Iraq to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria, but it still can protect national interests from other bases in the Middle East such as Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the forgotten war, but one where the US still has a chance of achieving a legitimate minor success. A good poker player knows when to fold 'em and change tables.