Sunday, September 09, 2007

The wah-wah birds

The wah-wah bird is a mythical beast that flies in tighter and tighter concentric circles until vanishing into the orifice of his fundament, and then complains about his inability to see.*

It’s safe to say that the Bush administration is in the process of vanishing into the orifice of its fundament. Those inclined to be less poetic might say that the Bushies are being sucked into the reverse ass of bad karma.

Bush recently admitted that he can’t remember exactly why, contrary to pre-war planning, the Iraqi army was ordered disbanded.
One of the most heavily criticized actions in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was the decision, barely two months later, to disband the Iraqi army, alienating former soldiers and driving many straight into the ranks of anti-American militant groups.
But excerpts of a new biography of President Bush [Dead Certain] show him saying that he initially wanted to maintain the Iraqi army and, more surprising, that he cannot recall why his administration decided to disband it.
Well, if you’ve read Tom Ricks’ Fiasco, you have a pretty good idea why CPA Order No. 2, issued by L. Paul Bremer, called for the dissolution of the Iraqi army and who the key agitator was (most signs point to Ahmad Chalabi).

Douglas J. Feith, former undersecretary of Defense for policy and an architect of the Iraq invasion, finds this all very interesting, and says the decision warrants scrutiny. Really?! Here’s a fun FYI: The title of Feith‘s forthcoming memoir is War and Decision, all about his significant contributions to making really bad decisions and even worse “architectural plans” for two different wars. He must feel pretty confident that his ass is well covered for this particular screw-up.

Before the last of the Bushies pass through the orifice of their fundament and into the impenetrable darkness, I’m sure they will have thoroughly convinced themselves that the WMD dismantled and dispersed themselves, the Iraqi army dissolved itself, and, most importantly, the Iraq War simply started itself. The thinking seems to be that if no decisions were made, then no bad decisions were made.
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*Wah-wah bird description from Gene Lyons’Fools for Scandal.

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