Dowd: Good work, W, after four years of war, we get to choose between chaos, another Saddam or anarchy

"Good work, W," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes, "after four years of war, we get to choose between chaos, another Saddam or anarchy."

Discussing the "bleak tone" of the long-delayed 2004 National Intelligence Estimate with recent remarks by Bush Administration and Pentagon officials, Dowd writes "it's official...We're in a cycle of violence so complex and awful that withdrawing American troops will make it worse and keeping American troops there may also make it worse."

"We can try or we can leave, but either way, it seems, we're cooked," Dowd concludes.

Excerpts from Dowd's column:

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So after four years of war, we get to choose between chaos, another Saddam or anarchy. Good work, W. And at such bargain prices; the administration is breaking the record for the military budget, asking for $100 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan this year and $145 billion more for 2008.

The White House thinks it can somehow spin the Iraq apocalypse so it sounds as if multiple wars are better than one civil war.

At a Pentagon briefing on Friday, Bob Gates rebuffed the idea of a civil war, saying: "I think that the words 'civil war' oversimplify a very complex situation in Iraq. I believe that there are essentially four wars going on in Iraq. One is Shia on Shia, principally in the south. The second is sectarian conflict, principally in Baghdad but not solely. Third is the insurgency, and fourth is al-Qaida."

That's a relief, all right -- we're in four wars in Iraq and threatening another with Iran.

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FULL DOWD COLUMN CAN BE READ AT THIS LINK