Rumsfeld Resignation Won't Save Iraq

Although Rumsfeld is the architect of the Iraq fiasco his departure won't change the results. Iraq is headed for civil war and abyss. We will be forced to flee just as we did during Vietnam War. Failure was destined from the beginning. We tried to impose democracy on the Iraqis on the cheap. Unlike Japan, we did not have adequate troops and we did have adequate justification for occupying an Islamic state like Iraq. We had unquestioned right to occupy Japan and German and impose our will on them.

But just as big a problem is our poor intelligence capabilities. It is poor intelligence that led to 9-11 and the failure to capture Bin Laden. Until we begin to invest more on a revamped CIA, we will continue to fail in the international struggle against any adversary.

***
Now that the elections is over expect conflict in the Middle East to increase. Israel, which was humiliated in Lebanon is aching to get revenge, has the green light to destroy Hamas. The neocons might've been damaged by their war in Iraq and Lebanon, but they are still running the White House. This can only spell trouble for America. Hamas is now saying that any truce between them and Israel is over:

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal said Wednesday that a truce with Israel is finished and his group's militants can resume fighting following an Israeli tank attack that killed 18 Palestinians.

Any possibility of a negotiated peace agreement is extremely unlikely given an administration in Washington that all along has been hostile to Hamas. It is only a matter of time before Israel comes into conflict with with Syria and Iran, directly. In fact, Israel and the White House still have plans to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities. Bush is wounded. He needs something to resuscitate his presidency. Peace is not part of that scenario, even if the Democrats are there to temper his adventurous streak.