Apparently, standing on the bodies of the victims of 9/11 has lost its appeal. Perhaps its the smell. The troops no longer make for an effective backdrop either…the blank, idolizing stares of 2003 transformed long ago into the grimace of fatigue and hopelessness. Maybe there just weren’t enough of them to fill our widescreen TV’s. 16:9 can be a bitch.

But its time to turn another fake corner in Iraq and the pickings are slim. According to CNN, via Josh Marshall, it seems that Saddam Hussein, and his well-timed hanging, are going to serve as the latest prop for Bush’s New, New Way Forward in Iraq.

While I share Josh’s embarrassment, and the sense that Bush’s complete failure in Iraq has been laid bare for all to see by this pathetic farce, I can’t help but feel that it is particularly humiliating for Iraqis and the Middle East more generally.

Most Iraqis were willing to overlook “Shock n’ Awe” in 2003 because we were able to remove them from the deadly embrace of Hussein. Now, the Bush administration has decided that it needs a win, and the Iraqis are going to have to give up their one true victory in this god-forsaken war, so that the President can continue to put lipstick on a pig.

As long as we deny the people of the Middle East a victory of their own, they will continue to settle for finding them in places like here, here, and here.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 29th, 2006 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Iraq, Middle East, The Bad Guys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.