It's Official! Bush Kicked off a Civil War!

I started to write about Britney and Kevin's new baby.

Okay, no I didn't.

But though that may be the third big story behind Katrina and the blasts in Baghdad yesterday that killed thirty, I think this pronouncement has to be the most disturbing statement by any side since Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier to announce "Mission Accomplished" in May 2003.

Why? Because it sets into stark relief the tragic and misguided folly of the Bush administration in their Iraq adventure. A calcified cabal that could not conceive of an approach other than that of Cold War America towards the problem of stateless terrorism has finally created a war they can understand.

A war that France couldn't win 40 years ago, the USA couldn't win 30 years ago, and the USSR couldn't win 20 years ago. One where a committed band backed by the surrounding community wages a relentless guerrilla campaign. I think for many months, many in the US (myself included) were rather confused about who exactly the insurgency was, and what their aims were, other than to drive the Americans from the country. Zarqawi's announcement brings it all into stark relief. The fact that the connection between the men who were cast adrift when the Iraqi Army was disbanded, and when the government was purged of ex-Ba'athists, were overwhelmingly Sunni.

So in the final analysis, it makes sense that now the insurgency is officially cast as the Sunnis versus the Shi'ites. The only problem with that is, considering that only Iran and Iraq are Shia, and the rest of the Arab Muslim world is Sunni, Zarqawi's declaration has the distinct potential to destabilize the entire region, as the insurgency continues and grows. And instability like that will only draw America deeper into the mess that BushCo has created.

In any case, destabilizing the entire Middle East is what the true neo-cons have been after all along. Looks like they may just get their wish after all.