The Worm Turns?

After years of being ignored by the Bush neo-cons, People Politics is at last starting to have a voice in the Iraqi situation. With an election looming and more US soldiers dying nearly every day, Bush strategists have finally realised they need to do something - and quickly - if they want to rule the world for another 4 years.

"Hey, Rummy! Dig up Colin Powell. Let him talk to his UN peacenik buddies. Within 6 months we could be blaming it all on them!"

The idea is being received with healthy scepticism. As this Guardian article points out, Iraq is fast becoming the land that Bush and Blair warned about: a throbbing hub of terror. In the way that hippies used to head for San Francisco, jihadists are surging towards Baghdad.... The irony is that, at the time, Bush's claims about Al-Quaeda links and terrorist training grounds were not true. But they are now... With astonishing speed, the United States and Britain are making their nightmares come true.

Even Hollywood heart-throb Johnny Depp is criticising US aggression. Now that's gotta hurt at the polls. Even if Depp does live in France nowadays...

In Iraq, there are mounting attacks against those who are seen to support the US invaders. As a result, many - including, perhaps, the UN - feel obliged to distance themselves from the Bush administration. If the same thing starts happening at home, the Bush administration could become a "lame duck" even before voters go to the polls.