Apparently I am not alone in saying that the thing that did not end with "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq might very well have a name at last: "The Iraqi Civil War." This non-news was in a classified National Intelligence Estimate that bush received in July, but is only now leaking out. In July! If there was that much official "pessimism" some two months ago, what in the hell is bush smirking and jiving so optimistically about these days? It's blood and body parts in hell from the news I'm reading and seeing on CNN! Or is that the "liberal media" using CGI and actors to manufacture unpatriotic news? If so, here is a dose of make believe from The New York Times:
The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.
"There's a significant amount of pessimism," said one government official who has read the document, which runs about 50 pages. ...
As described by the officials, the pessimistic tone of the new estimate stands in contrast to recent statements by Bush administration officials, including comments on Wednesday by Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, who asserted that progress was being made.
"You know, every step of the way in Iraq there have been pessimists and hand-wringers who said it can't be done," Mr. McClellan said at a news briefing. "And every step of the way, the Iraqi leadership and the Iraqi people have proven them wrong because they are determined to have a free and peaceful future."
President Bush, who was briefed on the new intelligence estimate, has not significantly changed the tenor of his public remarks on the war's course over the summer, consistently emphasizing progress while acknowledging the difficulties.
Addendum: If the "C Word" doesn't grab you, how about the "I Word"? As in "Illegal War":
UNITED NATIONS, New York The decision by President George W. Bush to go to war in Iraq was "illegal" because it didn't have UN Security Council approval, according to Secretary General Kofi Annan.
In an interview with the BBC World Service on Wednesday, Annan also said that the wave of violence engulfing Iraq puts in doubt the national elections scheduled for January.
There could not be "credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now," he said.
