Why the Bushies Are Glad They Lost in November

No, really. Sure the American public kicked them in the teeth. And sure, the Republicans and Bush administration have finally convinced a majority of Americans that they can't be trusted with handling policy matters above city dog catcher.

So you would think that the Bushies really mean it when they look sad about November's election and the loss of the House and Senate to the Democrats. But as Fareed Zakaria points out in his last Newsweek column, having Democrats in Congressional control is something they can use in Iraq. How you ask? Easy. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been content to sit back and watch the US flail around while pushing a pro-Shiite agenda. And why not? Bush isn't about to pull the troops out of Iraq or change policy, Maliki has no reason not to keep going the way he has been.

From Zakaria's column,
"The Maliki government, and the Shiite leadership more generally, understand that they must crack down on militias and compromise with the Sunnis. Why? In the words of one senior U.S. official—under instructions to stay anonymous—because Shiite political leaders understand they no longer have 'unquestioning American support anymore, especially from Capitol Hill.' This suggests that the administration finally understands that Bush's blank-check policy for the Iraqi government has proved totally counterproductive. The one action that might be forcing the Iraqi leadership to make some compromises has been the threat that Congress would force a withdrawal of American support. One month ago, the White House was criticizing Congress as being borderline treasonous for suggesting such a thing. Today its strategy in Iraq rests on the fruits of that assertiveness."

Yup, those traitorous folk are apparently the ones who the Bush administration may be relying on to pull their balls out of the fire. I wonder when we get our thank you notes?