House of cards

The Times Hassan M. Fattah reports on the opening of the Arab League summit:

"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Arab leaders on Wednesday that the American occupation of Iraq is “illegal,” and he warned that unless Arab governments settle their differences, foreign powers like the United States would continue to dictate the region’s politics."

This is a crushing blow to the Bush White House foreign policy initiative. King Abdullah, has long been America's most powerful ally in the region. This, in the wake of a recently cancelled state dinner at the White House and the Saudi's hosting talks with Iran's Ahmadinejad, is a clear repudiation of America's leadership in the region.

It doesn't end there, the Washington Post also points out another instance of George Bush, declined:

"But Rice will get no relief when she returns to Washington. She will have to deal with more depressing society news: Jordan's King Abdullah, who has spent more time in George W. Bush's Washington than any other foreign leader, has let the White House know that he can't make that state visit discussed for September. Can you do 2008? the king asks instead."

2008. Say no more. Decidering is a lonely job. No one deserves to be more lonely than George W. Bush. The magnitude of his failure will fill books for many decades to come. My fear now is not that the war won't end, my fear is what price the men and women on the ground will be forced to pay in blood, getting out of George Bush's folly. I fear for the thousands and million of Iraqis who have suffered and seen life shattered and whose sorry plight will continue until some form of stability is achieved.

No surge will save Bush now. The question is how to save the lives of people worth caring for, the American soldiers and the citizens of Iraq. There are no easy answers for those questions. You just can't shop that much.