The great Republican con machine has now shifted into high gear. And the same oracles of certainty that brought you �Iraq�s weapons of mass destruction� and a �cake-walk through Baghdad� are now, with the same shrill omniscience, promising that �the sky will fall in� if we pursue a prudent policy of letting the Iraqis themselves sort out their own civil war.

Those who so brilliantly predicted over a year ago that the �Iraq insurgency was in its last throes� now know for certain that �unless we stay the course Iraq will become the center of international terrorism.� No nuance there, no recognition of possible alternative policy choices. �We�re not a nuance administration.�

We are asked to continue trusting an administration that invaded Iraq without the foresight to provide sufficient troops to contain widespread looting and lawlessness and to secure the thousands of munition dumps throughout the country. The American public is asked to believe dire predictions about Iraq�s future from the same individuals who, in 2003, ignored multiple official studies warning that an invasion could well mean a total breakdown of law and order and possible civil war in the country. Secretary Rumsfeld�s curt reply to looting in Baghdad was, �Stuff happens�

As early as November 2001, when he instructed top brass in the Pentagon to begin planning for Iraq, he let it be known that he wanted no post-invasion planning and threatened to fire anyone who engaged in it. When asked about not planning for a the occupation phase of the invasion, he said, �You can�t foresee the future.� Now he�s part of the chorus predicting a future of chaos and widespread terrorism unless we trust his good judgment.

How can an administration which has charged, ahead ignoring warnings of caution, which has so badly misjudged the possible consequences of its precipitous actions and has not been able to see around the corner let alone foresee months and years into the future, expect to be taken seriously. Every prediction it has made about Iraq, from how long the conflict would last to how much it would cost to expected petroleum income and rebuilding the power grids, to economic reconstruction and development, has been so far off the mark as to be ludicrous,

With its record of useless to ridiculous predictions, this is an administration which has not one iota of credibility left. Yet, believing the American people to be absolute idiots, it fires up its con machine and hits the campaign trail.

It is sadly ironic that the same good gentlemen who schemed and conned the American public into supporting a disastrous war in Iraq are now warning that we can�t leave because of the condition they themselves created but hadn�t the foresight to plan for or to prevent.

It�s time for the American public to let them know that we are on to their game, that we�re tired of their fear-mongering and that we want a change in Washington.