Over the Rubicon, Into the Styx

• Iraqi Prme Minister Maliki sided with the militia of Moqtada al Sadr and ordered U.S. troops to end their siege of Sadr City.
• Major U.S. contractors (e.g., Bechtel, Kroll, etc.) announced they
  are withdrawing personnel from Iraq because it is too dangerous. 
  (I guess they missed General Casey’s upbeat assessment.)
• Central Command military analysts peg the situation as sliding towards chaos.

Maliki’s move to restrict the operations and movement of U.S. forces
in Iraq is only the first shoe to drop.  Until now the United
States has enjoyed unfettered access to plan and conduct counter
terrorist operations.  The ambush of Al Zarqawi in June, for
example, was carried out without prior permission or coordination with
the Iraqis.  We are now on the path where U.S. forces will face
growing restrictions on what they can do and where they can do
it.  This will enable the various terrorist forces to regroup and
will feed a growing spiral of violence.

Maliki’s order to open Sadr City also is a reminder of the power
Moqtada al Sadr wields behind the scenes.  It was only two weeks
ago that al Sadr’s forces stormed into the Iraqi city of Amara, burned
several police stations and several police.  It may not be the
only militia in Iraq but it is certainly one of the most powerful and
clearly has the ear of Prime Minister Maliki.  Oh, and someone
under Sadr’s direct control is holding a U.S soldier prisoner.  In
light of our own questions about the legitimacy and applicability of
the Geneva Convention when you are fighting terrorism, we have have
trouble persuading the Shia militia to treat the U.S. soldier humanely.

And then there is the retreat of U.S. corporations from Iraq. 
Rather than wait for helicopters landing on the roof of the U.S.
Embassy in the Green Zone to effect their strategic retreat, I guess
they have decided preemption is a better course of action.  Would
they be leaving if things were going well and victory on the
horizon?  No and hell no.

Finally there is the leak of a powerpoint slide from Central
Command’s daily intelligence assessment.  The media and pundits
were all atwitter over this but they are like cave fish who have
discovered that the sun rises every day.  This is not a new
briefing.  Central Command, the military command in charge of
Iraq, has been tracking this activity for more than two years. 

The analysts have given  weekly assessment tracking these
trends.  Like all good analysts, they are telling the truth as
they know it rather than the fantasy their bosses would like to
hear.  In fact, this information was available to the nitwit
General Casey, who announced last week that things were swell in
Iraq.  I don’t know who leaked the chart, but God bless
them.  It divulges no sources or methods.  But it does blow
the bullshit whistle on the White House and DOD spin.

So what is our metaphor to capture this moment?  Have we crossed the Rubicon?  The Romans’ point of no return?  Or, are we thrashing about in the Styx,
the river in Greek mythology, “where the wrathful and
sullen are punished by being perpetually drowned in the muddy
waters”?  Given our goober of a President, I think a more apt
image is Shit Creek.  We’re up it without a paddle.  Let us
pray that next week’s elections pluck our Republic from danger and put
our feet back on solid ground.