Bush's Shrinking Safety Zone

[tw]

Years ago, George Sr's close friend, Brent Scowcroft, was predicting how bad it would get. But no one really thought the George Jr administration was even more incompetant. If you did not notice last month, every previous Sec of State from Carter's, Reagan's, Bush Sr's, Clinton, etc have criticize Condi Rice in public testimony for not doing her job. She is criticized for doing same failures as National Security Advisor.

How deep is the denial? Another example of how much worse Iraq is compared to rosy pictures so often in the news. Remember reality - Americans are attacked as much as 3000 times every day - because the Iraqis love being liberated. From ABC News of 3 Feb 2007:

Quick Highlights of the National Intelligence Estimate Report
A new National Intelligence Estimate paints a grim view of the security situation in Iraq.
Highlights of the report include:
. Civil War
"Civil war" accurately describes key aspects of the conflict, but the report indicates that there is clearly more than just a civil war at hand.

The report says: "The Intelligence Community judges that the term 'civil war' does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, al-Qa'ida and Sunni insurgent attacks on Coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence. Nonetheless, the term 'civil war' accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence, ethno-sectarian mobilization, and population displacements."

. A Deteriorating Situation
The situation in Iraq could grow much worse. Events like the complete defection of Sunnis from the government or the assassination of key political and religious leaders could "shift Iraq's trajectory from gradual decline to rapid deterioration with grave humanitarian, political, and security consequences" that could spill beyond Iraq's borders.

As Lee Hamilton of the Iraq Study Group stated bluntly during Congressional testimony, Maliki is useless and needs to be pressured. But how can this be? On his last trip to Iraq, George Jr said he looked into Maliki's eyes and therefore (somehow) knew.

I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.

Lee Hamilton saw something completely different - by listening to what Maliki said.