Congratulations are certainly due to the current US administration. Not only have we managed to completely erode any trust from other countries which had been built by Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush, and even Ronald Reagan, George the Younger has ALSO, it seems, managed to bring down Tony Blair (this is a bad thing, for those who do not know it) to his level, if not to destroy his own administration.

From FoxNews (of all places):
"Prime Minister Tony Blair's (search) government has been on the defensive over two dossiers, published in September and early this year. The government has acknowledged that the second document included material from a student thesis lifted from the Internet.
"The two documents were a key part of the government's argument for military action in Iraq.
" 'It is important, amid all this coverage, to realize that the contents of that dossier -- and, indeed, of the first dossier which I presented to the House -- are accurate,' Blair said."
Read the complete story here

Jeez...you'd think the guy was Ari Fleisher. First off, the second dossier included information which has already been proven to be forged (not inacurate, but patently false): the claim that Iraq was trying to build a new atomic weapons program, based on documents from Italy. Tough Titties, Tony. You're out.

Next, the latest non-news, again from Fox, stating that the U.N. Has found no link between Iraq and al Qaeda. This was the sort of thing that Colin Powell and President Bush really needed the world to believe - after all, weapons of mass destruction are nothing unless there's somebody around to actually carry the damned things to a good place to use them. What I find truly interesting is that even Israel, a sworn enemy of Iraq, never felt threatened enough by the "ties" or "WMDs" to actually act in support of the US, either in the United Nations or in Iraq itself. Australia, however, apparently puppy-dogged around behind us. I remember hearing stories about them de-mining ports along the Gulf.

Now, don't take this as an attempt to belittle the actions of US troops...they're brave, and they're doing what they're told, when they're told to do it. Those are the hallmarks of a good armed forces, and I'd like to see every one of the boys and girls in camo come home. Tomorrow, if possible, but of course, now that we've blown an entire country to bits, that really won't be.

This is, however, a further rant into my total disdain for President Bush. Honestly, the man has surrounded himself with advisors whispering into his ears, very Rasputin-like, and fed him lies that he has apparently taken to heart. "Cutting stock dividend taxes will help me - err, the economy," or "Oh, yes, al Qaeda is headed by Saddam Hussein's next door's brother's nephew's cousin's father's college roommate...we should bomb them to pieces. By the way, all contract negotiations? Just let me handle them."

Very few times in my life have I been ashamed to be an American, but frankly, George the Lesser is definitely pushing my buttons. I'm just hoping that some Democratic candidates are willing to push his, too; get him to do something stupid, and don't let anyone ever forget it until November. I mean, it's only right. That, and maybe, just MAYBE, somebody will finally do a public inquiry into exactly what the hell went wrong over there and back home in DC.