For all practical purposes, we are at war with Iran. One wonders what the White House is waiting for. The EU is in the bag. Capitol Hill, taking its cue from AIPAC, plus all the front-running presidential contenders of both parties, who take the same cue, have stated unequivocally that the option for the United States to bomb Iran is on the table until and unless Tehran stops enriching uranium. The blank check for war has been signed, sealed and delivered.

Cheney and Bush will not be impeached and they cannot be stopped from attacking Iran. There is no way a Democratic-controlled Capitol Hill in 2007-2008 is going to impeach Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Why? Simply because a Democratic-controlled Senate in 2002 authorized the launching of “€œOperation Iraqi Freedom”€ and has funded the enterprise every foolhardy step of the way. In plain English, if they tried to impeach Cheney-Bush over the enterprise of Iraq, the Democrats would be impeaching themselves. And both sides know it.

We urgently need an American Inspector Maigret to investigate who was behind the decision to invade Iraq. The invasion was entirely unnecessary, wanton and ruinous. On its face, it remains inexplicable. America and the world have a right to know who was responsible for it, and those responsible should be held accountable for their actions, if need be with jail sentences. No cover-up and no pardons, please. The whole subject deserves to be thoroughly investigated, starting of course with AIPAC and with the so-called “€œneocons,” the intellectual outriders for AIPAC, whom Taki has referred to as “€œFifth Column fanatics.”

Henry Kissinger wrote just one of the raft of letters written to Judge Reggie Walton (373 of them altogether), the vast majority of which sought clemency for Scooter Libby. This was after Libby had been convicted by the jury but before he had been sentenced by the Judge. As one might expect, the letters are from a cavalcade of big shots in the Washington establishment, heavily fortified with “neocon” professors, operatives and their dupes, about which more in a future missive. Dr. K’s letter is understated and relatively short, when compared to the others. But it also quite revealing, both between the lines and on its face. Like the rest of the writers, Dr. K probably never anticipated that Judge Walton would release the letters to the public. Here is Dr. K’s letter (#193) in its entirety.

Logically, Cheney and Bush should resign forthwith. That is the only honest course of action. The conviction of Libby convicts them. Surely, Patrick Fitzgerald and his team realize that. But wisely, Fitzgerald has not gone after Cheney and Bush. That is not his job. That is the job of Congress. For purely strategic reasons, however, the cynical leadership of the Democrats in Congress has taken impeachment off the table.