A sobering reality is that this Administration has already succeeded in achieving it's personal benchmarks much due to the continued failure of Congress to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush, Cheney, and Gonzales and the failure of the American people to voice strong opposition until now. It is already too late for anyone to keep this Administration from achieving it's intended objective of perpetuating the Iraqi War until probably 2009.
With the Iraqi Parliament going into recess today and the U.S. Congress heading into their month-long exile later this week, all progress will be vacated until September. General Patreas' report on the War in September will initiate debate in Congress as they continue to disagree on future funding without a timeline for troop withdrawal. Even if Congress were to finally pass a funding bill requiring troop withdrawal to commence by April of 2008, and assuming President Bush finally concedes and doesn't veto this, all of the Bush Administration's goals will still have been met.
If military experts are accurate in their assessment that it will require at least one-year to extract all of our troops and equipment from Iraq, the final troops to exit will come home to a new President. Even if Congress were to miraculously impeach the President, Vice-President, and Attorney General this fall, scheduled troop withdrawal could not be achieved until around election time 2008. Granted 2008 is still better than 2009 and this Administration’s officials must be impeached this fall to at least shorten if only somewhat the genocide in Iraq. Still, Bush Administration 1 - Humanity 0.
The only victory that America and the World can hope to achieve in all of this is the prosecution of President Bush, VP Cheney, and AG Gonzales and their counterparts. Revenge is a dish best served cold and while it won’t come soon enough to save the estimated 655,000 to 1 million lives lost, including Americans, it is absolutely essential if there is to be any healing within and throughout the World. For crimes against this Country and humanity, this Administration must, must, be held accountable.