The Iraqis are blase. There is no sense of national unity.

The Iraqis are not committed to self-defense.

The Iraqis, contrary to popular myth, have not laid roses at the feet of their invaders.

The war has been mismanaged from the beginning, a ginned-up excuse to push the agenda of The Project for the New American Century -- the neocon power structure really calling the shots in Washington, D.C., headed by Dick Cheney, who tells ABC News today that it really doesn't matter what the American people think, the war machine will grind full-speed ahead.

Probably not, if Tuesday's elections go the way they seem headed.

A new House, possibly a new Senate, could rain on Cheney's parade and cut off funding for the war in Iraq, effectively lopping off the head of this beast.

They say all politics are local. Well, the Iraq War is local. We've seen our troops come and go. We lost one local soldier, Sgt. Ron Wood. That's one too many. We've seen our local National Guard spend a year over there in a place that, since its departure, has claimed a ton of lives. How they got out unscathed is a miracle, for which we are all grateful.

So, what happens to Rumsfeld does have impact on us, which is why I agree that it's time for him to go, despite the vote of confidence given both him and Cheney by the president.

Then, it's time to turn our attention to the White House itself and look at what personal gain -- whether in influence or cash -- Cheney has pocketed as a result of this ill-thought-out war; at what role Condi Rice has played in the dis-information campaign; at how the president himself has abused his seat through deceit and connivance.

The Military Times did not go far enough in calling only for Rumsfeld's resignation or firing.

But, it's a good start.

One down, three to go?

We can only hope.