This is a sure thing -- if only one could bet money on it! Of course the war in Iraq is lost but even more certain is that while GW's brain may be so hard-wired by his faith to ignore the facts, his Republican advisors are not so simple-minded. They know that it's no longer about the war, it's about the blame.
Everything the White House does over the next sixteen months is not merely an attempt to pass the Iraq war onto Bush’s successor. The larger strategic objective is to make sure that when Bush’s successor inevitably withdraws the troops, the Republicans can then blame them for losing the war. Accordingly, for the next sixteen months, the Bush administration’s sole goal is to provide the appearance that progress is being made in Iraq.
As we have seen over the past two weeks, the facts on the ground in Iraq simply do not matter. Regardless of what actually happens in Iraq, right up until the moment Bush’s Democratic successor is sworn into office, the Republican talking point is one word: Progress! Then, the moment a Democrat is sworn into office, it will change like a light switch. In fact, they might not even wait for the inauguration. More likely, as soon as it becomes apparent that the Republicans are going to lose the White House, they will start blaming the insurgent attacks and low morale of the troops on the coming Democratic takeover, before they even take office.
