Ha! Fooled ya! [Remember "we're an empire now; we create our own reality"? How far off those happy days seem! Snicker.]

Here's how AP is framing the recommendations of the Baker Commission, released today. (The Beltway 500 is all atwitter!)

Panel: Try diplomacy in Iraq, then leave

But--But--Where's the pony? Somehow, I don't think Bush is going to be very happy about this.

AP acquired portions of the report:

The United States faces a "grave and deteriorating" situation after three years of war in Iraq, a high-level commission warned bluntly on Wednesday, recommending enhanced diplomacy to stabilize the country and hopefully permit the withdrawal of most combat troops by early 2008.

It warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a risk of a "slide toward chaos (that) could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe.

"Neighboring countries could intervene. ....The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized," commissioners said.

The country could become more polarized? Hard to imagine, but if "polarized" means "more Democratic," that means a thorough-going repudiation of all the damage the Bush administration has done, and bring a halt to the Republican project of replacing Constitutional government with authoritarian rule. So every cloud has a silver lining, doesn't it?

Somebody needs to take George aside and tell him there's no shame in preceding over the worst strategic disaster of this century, he did his best, he followed his beliefs, if God has wanted it to happen, it would have happened, and so on. Then turn over the real governing to... To.... Oh, wait...

NOTE "Withdrawal of combat troops" translates to "maintain basing rights" with whatever Iraqi government we can conclde a status of forces agreement with. That way, we can maintain our imperial footprint in Iraq. (Remember the 14 permanent bases? The humongous fortified embassy with the onsite Krispy Kreme donut shop in it? Our rulers intend to stay in Iraq for some time, regardless of this combat kerfuffle.) But it's the imperial footprint that is the problem, n'est c'est pas?