This is not really this is not really happening (you bet your life it is)

The news from Iraq gets bleaker and bleaker.
So the question, of course, is what to do.

Pull out now and risk chaos? Stay around and risk chaos?

We are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

I will be honest. I do not know what is the proper course of action. I wish I were wise enough to suggest a course of action.

My inclination is for us to pull out now, though my fear is that Iraq will fall into the hands of an tyrant just as vicious as Saddam Hussein. Perhaps this is inevitable. The foolish actions of Warlord Premier Bush have put the Middle East into a state of extreme instability.

What should we expect if the worst happens--if Iraq falls into the hands of a theocratic dictator along the lines of Iran?

• $6 per gallon gas?
• An attack on Israel? By whom? When? With what? Where?
• Do we come to the aid of Israel, if this comes about?

Curbing our appetite for petroleum is not as easy done as easy said. The economy of the world runs on oil. We, as the world's biggest economy, cannot eliminate our dependence for it without causing world wide economic chaos.

Indeed, without oil, the economies of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, and other oil exporting countries would collapse. Most of these countries do not have the benefit of a middle class or extensive stratification. The rich are rich and the poor are poor and that's just about it.

Terrorism is born out of hopelessness and the attitudes of those who feel as though they have nothing to lose. More terrorists would be created if the world's economy collapsed.

So I propose we come to the table. Diplomacy cannot solve all problems, but the problems we have in Iraq have been largely of our own creation. They have largely been caused by this shoot first, ask questions later mentality. We should bring new mediators. The new Democratic leadership should bring new negotiators and new ideas to prevent the worst.