Someone Get The Plunger. The Toilet's Backing Up

Do you hear that flushing sound? That's the sound of Bush's presidency going down the toilet as his lies start coming back to bite him in the tuckus.

This past Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on "Face the Nation" and weighed in on the war. Powell minced no words when he said the U.S. was losing the "civil war" (GASP!!!!!)in Iraq. Yes, it's true: Powell called the conflict a "civil war!" He also doubted that a short term influx of more troops would improve the situation. He described conditions in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating and we're not winning, we are losing. We haven't lost. And this is the time, now, to start to put in place the kinds of strategies that will turn this situation around." Those strategies, continued Powell, would include turning Iraqi security over to the country's own forces sooner rather than later. Then American forces could begin coming home by the summer.

Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have come out against Bush's plan to add troops as well. They warn that any increase in troop levels may further encourage the insurgency to further increase the level of violence. And then what happens when those forces are eventually withdrawn? The violence goes up even further.

Adding to the gloom are figures from the Pentagon that show the level of attacks in Iraq to be at their highest level since June of 2004, when Iraq regained its sovereignty. They are now averaging about 1,000 a week, whereas the average for the period of May-August was 800.

And how are the Iraqi citizens caught in the crossfire taking it? Well, according to the same report, "the failure of the (Iraqi) government to implement concrete actions in these areas has contributed to a situation in which, as of October 2006, there were more Iraqis who expressed a lack of confidence in their government's ability to improve the situation than there were in July 2006."

On the other hand, at least certain parts of the Iraqi economy are showing strong signs of improvement. Merchants in the city of Najaf, which has one of the world's largest cemeteries, are doing brisk business selling burial shrouds.

So there. Who says I never talk about the good news out of Iraq?