Bush pickle

It never ceases to amaze me how George W. Bush gets himself deeper and deeper into an almighty pickle in Iraq.

Last week, he had a superb "get out of jail" card from the Iraq study group.

However, the silly sausage seems hell-bent on getting himself deeper and deeper into what his father called "deep doo-doo", by sending in more troops.

He has thereby added two gallons of vinegar to his already well-spiced "Bush Iraq pickle".

The Democrats at last have a Iraq exit strategy to unite around - the Iraq study group report - and now even previously rock-solid Bush supporters on Iraq in the Republican party are turning against him. The example is Gordon Smith, Republican Senator from Oregon. He has labelled US Iraq policy absurd and "maybe even criminal".

It seems clear that US policy on Iraq will not change until Bush leaves office. That is crazy. Ideally, Bush should realise he has made a mistake and "cut and walk".

After all, a significant key fact, which the Study Group report emphasises, is that most casualties in Iraq come not from attacks on US troops but from inter-communual violence. So, basically, the US is refereeing a civil war.

History is going to have a lot to say about George W Bush. Psychologist Oliver James traces all Bush's actions back to fierce anger with his father and mother. The supreme irony is, that if George W Bush had listened to his father, and learnt lessons from him (Lesson 1: Assemble an international coalition (as per Gulf War 1) ; Lesson 2: Don't march on Baghdad you numpty!) he wouldn't be destined to go down as one of the most disastrous Presidents in US history.