GLOBAL COLUMN© BY TED CORDOVA

Plenty of political collateral casualties of “Operation Freedom Iraq”

“We got him!” was the brief, joyous message, early on Sunday, dec.14 from Paul Bremer, president Bush’s, personal delegate in Iraq. With such a quick message to the world, the roadmap was cleared for George W Bush to be recognized as Man of the year 2003.

But that political triumph, that could mean the reelection for the controversial Republican leader, has claimed a political toll all over the global world. For the success of Bush, many political leaders are paying a heavy price, even the end of their political careers. Global king Bush has stepped to his throne over the political cadavers of several of his US collaborators and foreign allies. The list is long.

Will Tony Blair be the first? Or. As it seemed for a while, it was going to be George Tenant, the CIA director, who offered himself as a sort of scapegoat for the mishaps of intelligence over the so called weapons of mass destruction allegedly accumulated by Iraq and so far never found. A sacrifice to save the President that touches other VIPs, such as Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell and even Donald Rumsfeld.

Anyhow, the list of political personalities, that are on the verge of becoming “collateral political cadavers” as a consequence of “peration freedom Iraq” is already long. And growing.

The aftermath of the war in Iraq is showing a Dantesque scenario of political cadavers struggling for survival all over the World, starting from Washington DC. to London, Paris, Karachi. Or the United Nations.

Some prominent politicians are already ‘collateral casualties’ -Pentagon lingo- of war. Will they be present in the near future or the “day after” as political cadavers in History?

Naming names: Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Parvez Musharaf, Berlusconi, Jose Maria Aznar, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, who, obviously has that rare facility to disappear from the general scenario when big trouble boils over Washington.

But Bush, with his trophy of Saddams head, can smile as cocky as ever. He assures the Super power is now more secure, and, of course, remember September 11.

BIP