Lame duck meets dead duck

Bush is supposed to meet with Nuri al-Maliki later today. As Maliki was leaving Iraq, one major city there, Baqouba, was closed down by street fighting, the al-Sadrists said they would make good their threat to boycott the Iraqi government if Maliki met Bush, people continued to turn up dead and wounded all over the country, and the U.S. prepared to leave Anbar province for good. Maliki may not make it home as premier. Bush has no power to change anything anymore.

It appears Iraq is unravelling faster than I can describe it. Soon, there will be government in name only -- if that's not already the case. If there were ever a "failed state," it's Iraq at the moment, but that designation seems to blame the Iraqis for their plight. In fact, Iraq is a "destroyed state," and we were the ones who almost single handedly destroyed it.

I hope the two have an enjoyable time chatting about the weather.