Shrub declares Hezbollah beaten. Their Answer "We're still here."

"Bush managed to make both himself and America look like petty, pathetic losers -- which is certainly true, but hardly needs to be flaunted before the world. Typically, the moron ignored -- or never understood -- the concept of plausible deniability, which is one of the key benefits that proxy wars offer to their superpower patrons. If your guy wins, you take the credit and make sure everybody notices how well your weapons systems performed. If he loses, well, it had nothing to do with you. This at least leaves you with as much diplomatic manuevering room as is possible under the circumstances."

"But the last word, as Pat Lang points out, usually goes to the side that winds up in possession of the battlefield. Hizbullah doesn't look like it's going anywhere. The IDF, the other hand, seems to already be looking to clear out of Indian country as fast as possible. (Hey, it's what Custer would have done if he'd been smart.) So it looks like all of Bush's canned speechifying is going to be trumped by Hussein Kalash's plain statement of fact."

"We're still here."

"Some facts speak for themselves."