clemons: anarchy lie ahead for the country

* clemons:

"The next two years are going to be politically bloody and difficult ones for the nation and the world. There is a somewhat understandable, yet naive, hope that Democratic success in the coming election will somehow corner President Bush and his team into a more rational national security posture.

To some degree this is true. Democratic political strength in the nation is palpable, and virtually everyone sees the House of Representatives changing management, though the Senate is far less certain. Senator John Warner, Bush family "fixer" James Baker III, and others see this change in course coming -- and are trying to develop fig leaves for Bush to tack a different course on Iraq and US foreign policy in general.

But this view of change misses some key detail and parts of the political picture that need to be factored in.

First, Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team and new Committee chairs will not be able to hold back the calls for investigation, testimony under oath, and "public hangings" for those responsible for the corrupt practices with firms like Halliburton, the politicization of intelligence driven by Douglas Feith and friends; and the management failures that led to Abu Ghraib, Haditha, Guantanamo, and the lack of body armor for American soldiers.

In fact, Pelosi should not hold back. A public spotlight must be focused on those who took this nation in to the Iraq War -- and in particular, hearings along the lines of those that Harry Truman called in the Senate in 1940 to expose war profiteers should be quickly assembled and legal investigations of the structural corruption behind this war launched.

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If the House becomes the primary driver of investigations into the abuses, corruption, and duplicity that took this nation into a war that has undermined American status and security in the world, then the spotlight on the many scandals to roll forward will actually bring over Republicans.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid need to make sure that they have space in their plans for Republican defections away from the White House -- and the Dems need to force Republicans to vote over and over again on legislation and resolutions and investigation authorizations related to the Iraq War and America's currently self-defeating foreign policy.

We are going to see the implosion of the Bush presidency I think -- and just like Watergate -- there needs to be space for the William Cohen types and Howard Baker types of this Congress to join in a collaborative spirit with Democrats to save this country.

The problem with the thesis I am describing is that it doesn't quite capture how reluctant the White House will be to cooperate -- even if the President wants to tack towards a new and constructive direction in America's Middle East policy.
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But Bush will not go quietly -- and more importantly -- the allies for a better direction in foreign policy who actually do exist in hidden corners of the Bush administration are dominated by Cheney's followers throughout the national security bureaucracy.
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Cheney's acolytes will see a new equilibrium in the MIddle East as code for selling out Israel's security interests because they do see these issues in zero sum terms, even if the President of the United States does not (by then).

Cheney's people, if not neutralized, will derail any new opportunities or directions.

They need to be exposed as part of the broad Cheney network and pushed to the side. That is the only way to let some other policy possibilities to take root in the next two years of the Bush administration.

Dems and moderate Republicans can take credit as needed for these new changes in policy -- but without neutralizing Cheney down to the roots of his power -- policy and political anarchy lie ahead for the country."