What's Next?

There are several affirming compenents revolving around the Libby/Plame affair, whether or not Libby et. al. are found guilty of the counts in any indictment. More palpably, it means at least the following for the U.S. Government and the people of the United States of America:

1 - It proves that no one is above the law, even top whitehouse officials.
2 - The system of checks and balances works.
3 - Truth matters, and bending the truth to justify a war is wholly inappropriate and illegal.

Saddly, what it means for the citizens of Iraq is quite different. Are we supposed to all breath a collective, "Whoops! We're sorry. Our bad. Can we have a do-over?" No doubt, the folks living in the middle east are hardy people and will make lemonade out of the lemons we gave them. I can't say that I would blame them and they have a right not to ever trust the good people of the USA every again.

Unfortunately, the W, Rove and Co will continue to justify the invasion despite the illegal reasons manufactured for going in, and some citizens will thank them for it (let's call them the W, Rove and Co Apologists). GIs continue to die for the W, Rove and Co. But why?

As Fitzy does his job, it is looking more and more likely that the justification to put our troops inside Iraq was egregiously and maliciously designed to trick the American people. The question turns toward, "what's next?" No doubt, we cannot know history before it happens, but this story will be one for the books.

The unraveling of the W, Rove and Co may very well lead to the downfall of the republican party as we know it. And like a phoenix, we will rise from these ashes a more powerful America. But lets hope it is not before those responsible are made to pay for their mistakes as we hold them responsible and accountable for delibrate actions that mislead us to where we are.

The biggest question of all is why the American people were misled about the reasons for provoking a war that continues to take an intolerable toll in lives and dollars -- and the credibility of the Bush White House.

Perhaps an even bigger question would be what was the real reason for the war on Iraq? But, I think we all know the answer to that one...