"If you break it, you own it."

Prophetic words. This quote was attributed to then Secretary of State Colin Powell, advising President Bush in advance of the invasion of Iraq. In light of recent events, these words ring true. For now we see the likely beginning of an all-out civil war in Iraq.

While the recent events that have triggered internal conflict in Iraq were not the work of the United States, we still are culpable. We created the perfect atmosphere for this to occur. We invaded a sovereign nation, leading to it's rapid destabilization, killed innocent civilians by the thousands, and provided no security or restoration of infrastructure in the wake of our military operations. What did you expect to happen, Mr. President? Did you give any thought at all to the likely results of your decisions? You broke it, you bought it.

And what is the likely long term result of our ill-conceived escapade in Iraq? The emergence of a nuclear armed Shia Arab super-state in the form of Iran/Iraq. Because in the event of a full scale civil war in Iraq, Iran will not stay on the sidelines to watch. They will take sides, and they will get directly involved. They will surely see it as an opportunity to increase their influence in the Arab world, and piss off the U.S. at the same time. For Iran, it's a win-win proposition. Did you give that some consideration Mr. Bush?

And what about our great success in Afghanistan? Well, let's see... Afghanistan is now the world's largest poppy producing nation. What was that Mr. President? Your "agricultural program" for Afghanistan? Afghanistan now has a U.S. hand-picked government that we continue to prop up, pretending to run the country. In reality, the majority of this country is controlled by the war-lords, who now have plenty of funding from the drug trade, plenty of U.S. issued weaponry, and they don't answer to the puppet regime. Who do they answer to? Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden.

So let's review... We have a drug-funded, Islamic extremist leaning, wild wild west of a country that borders not one, but potentially two Islamic nuclear states. And we have a country with no stability, filled with elements committed to the destruction of the United States and Israel, disintegrating into all-out civil war, with a nuclear-aspiring neighbor waiting to pick up the pieces. Great job Mr. President, you really hit that one out of the park!

It's inconceivable. The most powerful man in the world is a rapture-right zealot who is convinced we're in the "end of days." And he seems to be willing to do everything in his power to make sure he's right about that.

My weekend project? Building a bomb shelter.