The Snake Eats Its Own Tail, Creating a Perfect Circle

Shaker Constant Comment passed along this article from The Independent—ominously subtitled "Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors"—which details a "secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad" that "would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November." Fucking hell. I guess Bush finally figured out what to do about that whole lawless contractors business, eh?

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

…The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until now. The leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq. "It is a terrible breach of our sovereignty," said one Iraqi politician, adding that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimise the government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.

…Mr Bush is determined to force the Iraqi government to sign the so-called "strategic alliance" without modifications, by the end of next month.

And if, in fact, Bush is successful in ramming this deal through by next month, "so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated," it won't just cause political turmoil in Iraq, as it would effectively take Iraq off the table as an issue in the US election and "boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq."

If he were inadvertently boosted by a legitimate end to the war, that would be one thing. No decent person wants an extended war just to have a useful political football. But this asinine horseshit, which, like every other foreign policy decision made by the Bush administation, would make America less safe, by virtue of solidifying across the Middle East the idea that we are intent on a permanent occupation, is not a legitimate end to the war.

Bush has been chanting the "they hate us for our freedom" mantra for so long now that he's evidently obliterated every trace of memory among his entire administration that one of the major reasons cited for 9/11 was the US permanent bases in Saudi Arabia. Or they just don't give a fuck. Probably both.

So here we are, almost seven years, two wars, thousands of lives, and billions of dollars later, and Bush is angling to create in a second country the exact thing that served as the impetus for the incident that launched this clusterfucktastroship into orbit in the first place.

It would almost be poetic, if it weren't so mind-bendingly, cataclysmically, revoltingly, tragically stupid.