...And the war begat Nemesis: The Iraq War

For the first time in his relatively brief political career, George W. Bush is facing determined opposition. Despite his protestations to the contrary, his defiance of the Democratic Congress’ passage of a budget bill mandating a timetable for ending America’s involvement in Iraq must be seen as a desperate attempt at salvaging his already soiled standing in American politics rather than a plea for patience to ensure victory in Iraq.

His hubris in starting the war in Iraq (and he did start the war on his own initiative; it certainly wasn’t at the behest of his senior military advisers—his protestations notwithstanding) has begotten Nemesis in the Iraqi insurgency and the emergence of Iran as a major player in the region. The war he started to cow his political opposition and enrich his financial supporters has instead become political quicksand. The more the President thrashes out at his opponents and at other nations supporting the insurgency the deeper he sinks into the abyss which is Iraq.

The Iraq war is four years old and the sad part about all of this is that one year from now, we will be marking the fifth anniversary of this unnecessary struggle and we will be mourning the losses of many more brave Americans who have been needlessly sacrificed to gratify the vainglory of a few evil people. That is the tragedy of Iraq.