Oy: Beyond Quagmire

Rolling Stone has assembled a diverse panel of experts to ask the question: What's the best and worst case scenario in Iraq given that President Bush's "surge" is moving ahead?

The answers are not encouraging. Best case seems to be a consensus around the emergence of a not-so-brutal Shiite Saddam. Worst case is massive regional war, where there isn't an end to casualties. In either case, the Islamists emerge with a stronger hand and several new bases of operation.

The quote that jumped out at me was this stark statement by Gen. Tony McPeak (retired), Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War:

McPeak: This is a dark chapter in our history. Whatever else happens, our country's international standing has been frittered away by people who don't have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment [laughs]. If a guy is stupid, it makes a big difference.