In one very small respect, the re-election of George W Bush might be the right result. It is, that the whole mess the world is now in is solely due to the actions of the first Bush Administration, so is it not fair that he should be the one who is now required to clean that mess up? Iraq is now, more than likely, an intractable problem: the Americans can’t leave, because of the likely state of lawless civil war that would result; but nor can they stay, because of the “Q” word, the “V” word, and the timely re-appearance of Osama bin Laden, who is still, surely, the real object of the so-called War on Terror. (Not bin Laden, as such, who may, after all, only be a Dr Evil-type figurehead, but his lieutenants, or footsoldiers, or the leaders and functionaries of whatever separate and disparate groups it has been convenient to group together under the rubric of “al Qaeda”.)
Which is not to say that a second Bush Administration won’t make an even bigger mess of things by the time the President finally swaggers off into the Texan sunset in January 2009. Four years, for example, is plenty of time for the re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan; the assassination of General Musharaff in Pakistan and his replacement by someone less in the pocket of the Americans (don’t forget, Pakistan is a sovereign nuclear state); and the “successful” completion of nuclear weapons programs by both Iran and North Korea.
But if that is the case, then perhaps the American public might see the light, and we might then have stage two of the Clinton family hegemony, as Hilary steps up for her moment in the sun. Or the newly minted Senator Barack Obama. Or even a “moderate Republican”. Or perhaps the powers behind the throne might even now be finding a way to postpone the 2008 elections indefinitely due to a (self-inflicted) state of emergency, or to change the rules so that the President can seek a third term of office.
Or we could wake up tomorrow and discover that the last four years have been a bad dream, that Al Gore has just been elected for a second term, the terrorists have been rounded up and dealt with by lawful means and with meaningful international assistance and support, the Palestinians have been given a fair deal, a program of education and aid in the Middle East and elsewhere is serving to marginalise extremists of all hues, and John Peel didn’t die.
