THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

A wise dictum and one mostly honored in the breach by the Bushoviks. Thanks be to Juan Cole for pointing the way to this piece from Pepe Escobar, writing for Asia Times Online. In it he makes clear what is actually going on in Georgie's beloved Anbar.

Asia Times Online talked to Abu Risha this past spring in Iraq. He explained, crucially, that he had set up the council after his father and two brothers were killed by al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers. Yes, it was personal. Petraeus then joined the bandwagon. Abu Risha is not, and never was, a Salafi-jihadi. He considers himself an Iraqi nationalist. He's not in favor of a caliphate. But he's definitely in favor of restored power to Sunni Iraqis.

Petraeus was indeed smart enough to marvel at the possibilities of a marriage of convenience between the occupation and Sunni tribes. Al-Qaeda for its part was clumsy enough to force "Talibanization" down Anbar people's throats. But this does not mean that Abu Risha and his 200 tribal leaders are pro-occupation, or even pro-Iraqi government. Eighty percent of these tribes are sub-clans of the very powerful Dulaimi tribe. Al-Qaeda's close relationship is with the Mashadani tribe, which used to be very close to Saddam Hussein. What matters is that with varying degrees of disgust, both big tribes detest the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad.

Way beyond any "success" claimed by Petraeus, what's happening in Anbar is once again a replay of what happened in eastern Afghanistan in 2001. Local tribes profit from US largesse - and weapons - and then proceed with their own tribal and/or nationalist agenda. What matters for all these players, most of all, is restoration of Sunni power. The Dulaimi tribe and sub-clans, armed by the Americans, as soon as they have a chance, will try to topple the US-sponsored puppet government in Baghdad.

To his credit Petraeus grabbed an opportunity that came his way. To his shame he smudged the colors and blurred the edges of the true picture to support an unsupportable position. And in this country we have a CEO president doing what all CEO's do, covering his ass. A power crazed VP, his critical faculties destroyed by strokes, charging ahead with his preconceived notions. A Secretary of State who can't even tell when someone is bouncing quarters off her ass. And a Congress that has come to embrace its own impotence.

A year and a half can be a very long time.