More War, More Fear equals More Power....

__________________________________________________

Andrew Sullivan outlines the potential Republican strategy for holding on to power. Six years ago I would have thought this a crazy notion. Doesn't sound so crazy now considering what this administration has done so far.

The chances of national reconciliation in Iraq have gone backward, not
forward, this past year, and the U.S.'s empowerment of anti-Shiite propaganda in
Anbar will only isolate Maliki further. The best that can happen is an
indefinite occupation of a dismembered Iraq to slow down genocide and make
ethnic cleansing more orderly. But even that is a very risky proposition. And
the events of last week mean that the Republican party now owns the Iraq
occupation more exclusively and deeply than they ever had - and indeed intend to
maintain it for another decade.

One option: Change the subject by launching wars against Syria and Iran,
and so polarize the country that the choice is framed as: MoveOn or America?
That's much better than having, you know, an actual debate about the merits of
the war in Iraq and the war against Islamist terror. On that, Republicans lose.
If the war is far wider and more terrifying, if the enemies can be multiplied
and amplified, then the dynamic plays to the advantage of the GOP. It's for us
or against us again.
Remember it doesn't matter to the current Bush
Republicans if they cannot persuade a majority of thie necessity of extending
the war to Iran and Syria. They have dropped attempting to persuade a majority
on the war. They are concerned only with shoring up their own party, which can
enable them to launch new wars before the current presidency ends.

.