Dan Simpson strikes again!

Go read Dan Simpson today.

Seriously fine antidote to the tripe that passes for foreign policy analysis (especially at the P-G).

Senor Simpson starts with this:

The proliferation of wars in South Asia and the Middle East has raised for some the question of whether the world is, in fact, into World War III.

Seeking to draw parallels with World Wars I and II, some call it pre-World War III. Others call it World War IV, counting the Cold War as World War III.

Although the truth probably is that it doesn't matter what one calls the present situation, it is true that there are serious wars going on at present in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. Furthermore, none of them are going our way.[emphasis added]

He then analyses each in turn (it may just be a coincidence, but he proceeds alphabetically; Afghanistan, Iraq and then Israel). On Afghanistan, he says the "Taliban is coming back strong" and that "no one really thinks the war will go well for our side." The biggest problem, of course, is the corruption in the government - the economy, according to Simpson, is dependent almost entirely on narcotics.

Score one for the bad guys.

And then on Iraq. Simpson points out two different and troubling aspects of the conflict currently. Point one:

U.S. forces formerly operating across the country, seeking to anchor different parts of Iraq, are now going to have to drop back to Baghdad to try to stem the awful tide of violence that has swept through the Iraqi capital.

Or rather:

U.S. forces are now going to try to retake the capital, the scene of the triumphant pulling down of Saddam Hussein's statue and other early triumphs in a war that has now gone bad. This is awful; it is humiliating to the United States; if anyone still believes in the "shock and awe" of American military might, this may fully wrap up that fiction.

And the other point:

The other bad part that is emerging is to just what degree U.S. elements in Iraq to rebuild it, or to build a new, democratic Iraq, better than the Iraq of Saddam Hussein, stole and looted shamelessly.

I have to admit I'm having trouble with this sentence. But I think he's saying that it's not a question of whether "U.S. elements" stole and looted shamelessly, but to what degree they did. His next sentence supplies some clarification:

Sweetheart contracts were awarded and then not even carried out.

When does the Swiftboating of Dan Simpson start? He obviously hates America and hates the troops.

Finally he gets to Israel:

The third war in question is the one that Israel is waging against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. If one accepts the definition of success that Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah has proclaimed, all Hezbollah has to do to win in its terms is survive. It is surviving, although it is at the expense of Lebanon, guilty of sheltering it or unable not to harbor it, depending on one's interpretation.

Whatever else is going on over there, this makes complete sense to me.

There you have it my friends, three absolute triumphs of Bush foreign policy. But of course it's August, so we all know what that means, don't we?

From today's NYTimes:

The president gave up drinking years ago (he smokes an occasional cigar), and he exercises regularly. He switched to mountain-biking after being forced to quit jogging because of a torn calf muscle he suffered in 2003. He also delights in clearing brush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., where he will go on Thursday for a vacation. [emphasis added]

Of course. The world is spinning out of control, but nothing will come between Dubya and the brush he has to clear in Crawford.