Iraq-Nam and Katrina, Volume III

By the first half of 2006, both the war in Iraq and the poor performance of the administration after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana brought into sharp focus the fact that the Bush administration simply didn't know how to govern. Mr. Bush remained in permanent campaign mode at a time when a president should be least concerned about elections, the first half of his second term. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas finally ran out of political lives and left in disgrace. Overseas, Iran continued its drive for a nuclear weapon (it has been six months away from having one for a decade now), Lukashenko stole another election in Belarus about which the west did nothing, and the Americans killed Al Qaeda leader Zarqawi. His death had minimal effect on the rapidly escalating Iraqi Civil War.