Writer GreyHawk continues his analysis of the cabal that brought us to our continuing neo-con nightmare in his column, Danse Macabre: The Return of Ja(a)far [Donald Rumsfeld]

Despite Vice President Cheney's December 15th comments lauding Rumsfeld: "I believe the record speaks for itself - Don Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defence this nation has ever had," GreyHawk considers the devastation that Rumsfeld's turn on the dance floor has wrought.

Using comparisons to commercial art and film, GreyHawk muses on the machinations of this administration:

The hubris of Donald Rumsfeld and the George W. Bush Administration has spawned unbridled, growing chaos and threatens to spark conflagrations that extend far beyond mere "unintended consequences" for the region and the world. The disconnect from reality has been so great that George H.W. Bush had to take a more active "behind the scenes" role, placing James Baker and several others into positions where they could help Jr. attempt to extricate himself (and any potential legacy) from this debacle. Donald has been retired, after leaking a memo that should help mitigate his overall culpability in the lingering disaster, but the United States still faces the quagmire that sprang from his hand, directed by his policies and his misdirection of the military.

The (a) in GreyHawk's title, does not, of course, refer to the villain of Disney's Aladdin, but to Rudy Jaafar who wrote "Time for Arab History to Follow its Course" in al Nakhlah, the 2004 Fletcher School Online Journal for issues related to Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. That Jaafar tells us that "At present, the single most important source of international instability is America's problematical relationship with the Muslim world generally, and with the Arab world in particular."

With that perspective, GreyHawk's meditations consider lessons of art and history, ultimately reminding us that:

Our darkest points of history, the stuff of which nightmares are made, coexist alongside tales of humanity triumphant and dreams of a better tomorrow. History demonstrates that major themes often repeat, bringing fresh wisdom or reintroducing lessons yet unlearned to each new age. Sometimes, the cycles appear to repeat quickly, as though the lesson had been incomplete.

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