BushCorp™'s cynical Iraq scheme

A few recent news items have finally congealed in my brain to the point where (God help me) I think I understand what Bush is doing.

Item 1: Democrats take over congress in January.

Item 2: BushCorp™ is floating trial balloons hinting of an actual escalation in Iraq, with troop increases ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 being bandied about.

Item 3: Bush postpones his post-ISG report response until the new year.

Item 4: Bush is continuing to mouth his brilliant reasoning to the effect that he wants to justify the deaths and maimings that have already crippled and killed 10s of thousands of American troops, by sending in more troops to be killed and maimed.

So, what does this all mean?

Bush (or Rove) realizes that Iraq is lost and that all those deaths will inevitably weigh on the legacy he seems so concerned about.

How to salvage the situation?

Ask the new Democratic congress for massive levels of funding to support an enormous escalation in Iraq.

Democrats will then have the choice: either capitulate to Bush's demand for fear of being accused of not supporting the troops and despite the public's opposition to just such an escalation, or refuse and take the blame when Iraq decends, as surely it must, into further chaos.

I can already hear the Bushies (i.e. John McCain) 2 years hence whining that we could've won if only that cowardly Democratic congress had OKed one last big push.

So there you have it folks, that's my prediction for Bush's new grand strategy, which, you'll not be surprised, has nothing to do with dealing with Iraq, and everything to do with domestic politics.