NOTES ON THE BIG DIRTY WAR

Well, Bill Clinton is out saying he supports the decision to attack Iraq, on the grounds that in a post 9/11 world you couldn't take the risk of letting a lunatic have weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair is obviously on the same page. Putin says Iraq was planning an attack, though Russia still thinks the war was a mistake (?).

What I'm getting at here is that the war was not just a neocon adventure (although the neonitwits get full marks for screwing up the occupation). After the election, someone is going to have to make the same judgment about the other members of The Axis of Evil, Iran and North Korea. Clinton's logic applies to both of them, particularly given Iran's latest shenanigans.

The problem is, Iraq was the easy one. Most U.S. forces are already committed, so in order to attack Iran or North Korea, we have to get out of Iraq. This gives Iran big incentive to keep stoking the fire there. After the election the President will have a choice of stalemate in Iraq, or finding a way to create sufficient forces to take down Iran, which now must be considered the headquarters state for Islamic fundamentalism (yes, they still chant "Death to America" down at the mosque).

Ways to free up resources to attack Iran:
1) Reinstate the draft.
2) Convince our allies to help with the Iraqi occupation. Unlikely now, but a big terrorist event in Europe might change that.
3) Install a successful and stable democratic regime in Iraq. Ha ha, just kidding.
3) Leave Iraq to its fate.
4) Anyone? Buhler? Anyone?

Assuming we figure out how to attack Iran, that leaves the little problem of North Korea (which was topic A in the 2000 Clinton/Bush transition briefing, BTW).

There's a fairly easy way to fix the Korea thing. Let China know it's their problem and they can fix it, and if they do...they can have Taiwan. Kim Jong Il's head will be on a pike by sunset.

And then the world will be safe.

Except that China will now be master of the Pacific rim. My solution for that is to throw France off the Security Council, put Japan on, and give Japan all the nuclear weapons it wants. France will try to forestall this by capturing Bin-Ladin right in front of the election, but it won't be enough, the stakes are too high.

Hey, you want to make an omelette you gotta break some eggs.