Dick Cheney Stole My Lunch Money

Today we won’t be riffing on global warming, though I’ve already had the opportunity this morning to counter an argument from a “free market” writer that suggested we throw a net around Nancy Pelosi because she takes global warming seriously (I was taken aback by this because there was no suggestion that Al Gore be placed in the net as well). Since this guru unequivocally stated that global warming “isn’t happening, isn’t going to happen” I guess that problem is solved.  Whew!

Iran and Iraq:
At the outset let me say that I am but an uneducated peasant in matters of world affairs, especially those of the Middle East. Much greater men than I have attempted to sort all that out, to no avail. On occasion, however, I surprise myself by my own common sense. I shall try to employ that now in the following argument:

Since the 1970’s Iran has been a theocracy. The Shi’ite flavor of Islam is preferred currently in Iran, and Iraq, while under the rule of Saddam Hussein, was mostly of the Sunni variety. I hope I have this right so far, religious factions fighting each other tooth and nail always has me confused.

The main point being that a power struggle ensued, with all the attendant violence and warfare that comes with this sort of religious fundamentalism.  God is on my side and has asked me to kill you –  that sort of thing.

So along comes the USA  under the leadership of Dick Ch… er, I mean George Bush, with the aim(s) to disarm Iraq, save the world from the terrorist threat (by providing a place for all of them to go to fight Americans), or  perhaps to simply let freedom ring throughout the Middle East. I admit all that is beyond me; I’ve lost count as to the reasons why it is we are now in a Big Mess in Iraq.

Funny thing though.

We had Big Ideas but we went about it with Small Planning.  So now it seems as if it’s a Big Surprise that Iran is rushing to fill the vacuum in Iraq, due to the fact that through our Small Planning we’ve let Iraq become dangerously unstable. 

Iran, I am told, seeks to be a regional superpower. They’ve had problems with Iraq and the Sunni regime for decades. They see an opportunity. They are taking said opportunity. GW claims that Iran is targeting Americans. Well, DUH!! We’re standing in the middle of a civil war between religious factions that has been going on for centuries. Through a tenuous, if “evil”, balance of power between Baghdad and Tehran, the ongoing struggle was contained for a time. Along comes the vast wisdom of the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld triumvirate and we stumble our way into Iraq, deposing the leader, leaving a vacuum and no idea what to do next except react to a continually deteriorating situation. I must say, this shows a surprising lack of foresight in regard to what might actually happen. Aren’t there people in the government that at least took a history class in college?

• A playground bully. The kind that would kick you in the shins and steal your lunch money.
• The victim of a playground bully. He constantly had his shins kicked and his lunch money stolen.