LADY MACBETH: Out, damned spot! out, I say! Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? -- What, will these hands ne'er be clean? Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O!
Macbeth
Cross posted to Ruins of Empire, pics by The Unapologetic Mexican and the White House website.
In the dark the Lady Macbeth looked for solace from her tortured soul. But she could find none. Having egged on her husband to murder the King of Scotland, and accusing the princes of the foul deed, she nows finds that it is her that bears the brunt of the guilt. The same can be said of George W. Bush. Having instigated a war against Iraq and blaming Saddam Hussein for 9/11, even a hanging can not erase the hollow look on his face.
Having unleashed the Cyclops of American power on the unsuspecting masses of Iraq, Bush finds himself stuck at the bottom of a pit, drowning in a sea of sand and blood. So what can the giant do to escape the pit? According to Bush, this is what the giant must do:
The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On September the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq.
We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region.
Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq
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Like Sisyphus, George Bush is condemned to roll the same boulder up the side of the pit, only to have it slip from his grasp at the last moment and come crashing down again. Along the way it crushes thousands of innocents, whose blood greases the way downward and make it so slippery that the giant, despite his awesome strength, can not finish his labor.
That is what the "surge" is all about. It is vanity and desperation. Insanity and death. But no amount of force will push the rock back to its place. And no sweet oil or exotic fragrance from far away Arabia will wash away the stain.
UPDATE: Podcast 4 is up. I talk about Spocko blogswarm and Keith Olbermann's latest Special Comment.