What does the Walt Disney Concert hall have in common with the war(s) in Iraq?

Well, I think you get the idea.

And after the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report revealed (in part) this past week, it looks even worse than the above picture of Walt Disney's Concert Hall in Los Angeles to Secretary of Defence, Bob Gates. He said that we have not one, but four wars ongoing there. In his words:

"First of all, I received the estimate this morning and have not read it. I'll invite the chairman [JCS Chairman, General Tom (even more confused) Pace] to comment. What I have said in my testimony is that I think that the words "civil war" oversimplify a very complex situation in Iraq. I believe that there are essentially four wars going on in Iraq.

One is Shi'a on Shi'a, principally in the south; the second is sectarian conflict, principally in Baghdad, but not solely; third is the insurgency; and fourth is al Qaeda, and al Qaeda is attacking, at times, all of those targets."

But as regards the NIE, they/it stated that the Iraqi situation has devolved to what might be characterized as a "civil war' or at least "major aspects of the war in Iraq could be characterized as resembling a civil war."

Even President Bush seemed unsure as to what is happening. Only Dick (the eternal optimist) Cheney sees the war in Iraq as an unequivocal victory in every way.

What do I think?

Well, add to the above the war between Kurds and Arabs, the arms supplies to specified Shiite militias by both the Iranians and the Americans (through the Maliki government), the police versus the militias, the ba'atists (former supporters of Saddam Hussein) and the Shiite and Sunni supporters of the government and (oh yes) the Republicans versus the Democrats in the US ... and ... well, I think the following painting captures the scene in Iraq perfectly.



And all this without Donald Rumsfeld around to enjoy it. Nice going, Messrs Bush and Cheney!