A notable day in Bush failure.  First, we read that the main organization of al Qaeda, not the invocation of it in Iraq but the networked organization with nodes in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere, has reconstituted itself and is as strong as it was in 2001.  So much for the six year "global war on terrorism."  Mission Not Accomplished.

     Then we have the spectacle today of the Commander-in-Chief-of-Denial giving another garbled press conference where he issues a "report" that shows "mixed" progress in Iraq.  But if Bush remains true to form, we will learn in a few months that the current intelligence paints a much bleaker picture, just as it did last Fall, when the CIA reported "irreversible" instability but Bush, in his public comments, lied and covered up the tragic truth.  That is his true form: lie to save the ideology and ignore the horrific consequences.

     It all brings Sun Tzu to mind:

Those unable to understand the dangers inherent in employing troops are equally unable to understand the advantageous ways of doing so.  (2.8)

     In other words, Bush doesn’t get it.  He fails to see the real dangers, so he cannot see the best way forward.  He is blinded by his own self-delusion.

     After nearly four and a half years (is that longer than the US involvement in WWII?), Bush’s unwinnable quagmire in Iraq has proved Sun Tzu right:

Victory is the main object in war.  If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed.  When troops attack cities, there strength will be exhausted.

…

When your weapons are dulled and ardor damped, your strength is exhausted and treasure spent, neighboring rulers will take advantage of your distress to act.  And even though you have wise counselors, none will be able to lay good plans for the future. (2.3,5)

     Save for the bit about "wise counselors" (are any of them really wise?), that would be the epitaph of Bush’s Iraq Failure.

      Bush lost the war.