Bush always has a soft landing, and revelations that would have resulted in Clinton’s or even Papa Bush’s crucifixion bounce off the boy-man like rubber bands. I’m sure you’ve all heard the story by now of the report by 16 government intelligence services that basically indicts the Bush administration for creating a new and more zealous generation of terrorists thanks to the fuck-up in Iraq. I predict, however, that this story will go nowhere, devastating though it might have proven for any other US president. But no other president had the force of the Wurlitzer behind him. Greenwald explains:

Only in the U.S., with its toxic mix of Bush administration propaganda and media listlessness, could it ever even be a question open to debate whether invading, bombing and occupying a Muslim country in the Middle East for almost four years would fuel Muslim radicalism, inflame anti-American resentment, and create far more terrorists than ever existed before. And only in the current political climate where up is down could the political party directly responsible for severely exacerbating the terrorism problem with a pointless, disastrous and seemingly endless war have their chances for victory depend upon maximizing the country’s focus on terrorism — the very problem they have so severely exacerbated.

So, a recap of the Iraq war: there were never any WMDs. The proliferation of government death squads and militias in Iraq means that, compared to the Saddam era, human rights have worsened and torture has increased to record levels. Iranian influence has massively increased, as a result of a Shiite fundamentalist government loyal to Tehran replacing the former anti-Iranian regime. We’ve squandered hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives. And we have — according to the consensus of our own intelligence community — directly worsened the terrorist problem with our invasion, and continue to worsen it with our ongoing occupation.

How can anyone claim with a straight face that this war was a good idea?

Leave it to Karen Hughes and Karl Rove. They’ll take care of it with some talking points and position papers. They’ll find out that somone in one of the 16 agencies once gave money to a liberal or, even worse, had a Moslem uncle. They are in over-drive already, pumping away to undermine the whole thing, claiming, as always, that the whole thing is a trick brought to you by the wicked MSM. They do it every time and they always win. Will we let them win again in November? Stay tuned.