These are not happy times. Looking back on them, historians will likely call these days "The Prelude" to something extraordinarily disruptive in America. Just look at the facts: We have single-minded, resolute men (and Condi Rice) pouring our youth and treasure into a killing machine with no sensible or reasonable exit. In Vietnam, we had LBJ, a stubborn but intelligent man who had a great number of domestic successes, i.e. the Civil Rights Act. George Bush is no such person. This president has staggered headfirst into an international nightmare and his personal character and aggressive stubbornness ensures there will be no way back. But that's not the worst of it.
Bush's most recent rejection of the Baker-Hamilton recommendations and the call for a "surge"---in direct contravention of the suggestions-- have placed our nations security system, the military, at grave risk.
As someone who spent time in the regular Army, I assure you that in these grave times there are officers lying awake at night, wondering what should be done to save the services, and by extension, the nation itself. How can a military professional deal with an administrator who answers to no one, refuses to pay attention to professionals, and takes his cues from right-wing radio personalities?
The simple answer is: there IS no way to deal. As a result, and as a measure of their desperation, the usually quiet Joint Chiefs have leaked their objections to the press, stating that the Bush "Surge" may in fact "break" the military.
No matter. In fact, nothing of import has ever mattered to this President. Soon 30,000 additional young men and women will be sent into the killing fields of Anbar, Sadr City and Baghdad itself. Additionally, billions of dollars worth of military hardware will be shipped overseas, never to return. The hole in our nation's security and stability widens with each passing day, and no one has any idea how to patch it. In such an environment, extraordinary conversations take place between people who, in calmer times would never think to say them even to themselves.
In this bleak winter, this discussion, I assure you, will occur some where, some time. Or, it may already have taken place. Perhaps at some bar near DuPont Circle, or maybe at the Arlington shopping mall--two men will discuss the future. One, a Republican lawmaker will listen as the other explains the circumstances: if something isn't done politically---and soon-- to reverse this slide into chaos, then profound events may take place that could change the very nature of the United States government. The ultimatum: Reverse the course of events politically, or others may attempt to do it militarily.
Should such a conversation take place, how that lawmaker responds to such an ultimatum will affect the course of U.S. history for centuries to come.