Today was Justin Rood’s last day at TPMmuckraker. We thank him and wish him the best. Here’s his sign-off post.

Sens. Levin (D) and Warner (R) agree on compromise anti-surge resolution with broad bipartisan support.

From the AP …

Citing Iranian involvement with Iraqi militias and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, the Bush administration has shifted to offense in its confrontation with Iran — building up the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf and promising more aggressive moves against Iranian operatives in Iraq and Lebanon.

The behind-the-scenes struggle between the two nations could explode into open warfare over a single misstep, analysts and U.S. military officials warn.

This is the preeminent, really the only question in American politics today: Do we want to go to war with Iran or not? With the escalating chaos in Iraq and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, is it in our interests or not to get into a shooting war with Iran? The debate over the ‘surge’ of US troops into Baghdad is significant in its own way, but it pales in comparison to this one.

I’ve always viewed the fears that the White House would try expand the war into Iran with a mix of deep skepticism, fascination and latent foreboding. Logically, it makes no sense on any number of counts. But the last half dozen years has taught us all that that’s simply not a significant obstacle. There are any number of ridiculous gambits I was sure these guys wouldn’t try before they did try them.

Again, the ‘sensible’ interpretation of what’s happening right now is that the administration is trying to regain control of the situation in Iraq. And to further that aim they’re rattling their sabres at Iran to get them to back off and stop making trouble. That’s the sensible explanation. But we’re not dealing with sensible people. And much more important, the folks who are running this show are simply too stupid to be trusted to execute such a delicate and perilous feint.

I don’t mean they’re dumb people. I’m sure they have high IQs. Most went to prestigious universities. They have lists of accomplishments. But the record of the last six years shows so many mistakes, such a record of incapability and incompetence, so many misjudgements, screw-ups and boners that there’s no other suitable word.

Through plan or imbecility (and most likely, given who were talking about, both) they’re drifting toward war with Iran.

As I wrote last night, I think the new campaign of anonymous leaks suggesting Iranian involvement in the Najaf raid has rather less than no credibility. But even if you assumed, for the sake of discussion, that it were tied to, say, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and that (as the narrative goes) the attack was retaliation for the Erbil raid on the Iranian consulate, that still would not change the question we face: is it in our national interest to go to war with Iran or not?

Everything flows from the answer to that question. Tits for tats or who started what fade into the background. If the answers no, we should be calibrating our actions to avoid such an outcome, not taking actions likely to provoke it. We need a regional plan to walk this mess back from the brink rather than simply yanking every thread on this already frayed fabric and watching it disintegrate in front of us.

We’ve heard a few squawks and warnings from members of Congress. But now is the time for members of the House and the Senate to get serious about asserting some control over this rapid descent.

I’ve said this before. But perhaps it seems like hyperbole. So I’ll say it again. The president’s interests are now radically disjoined from the country’s. We can handle a setback like Iraq. It really is a big disaster. But America will certainly surive it. President Bush — in the sense of his legacy and historical record — won’t. It’s all Iraq for him. And Iraq is all disaster. So, from his perspective (that is to say, through the prism of his interests rather than the country’s — which he probably can’t separate) reckless gambits aimed at breaking out of this ever-tightening box make sense.

Think of it like this. He’s a death row prisoner concocting a thousand-to-one plan to break out of prison. For him, those are good odds. The rest of us are doing three months for disorderly conduct. And he’s trying to rope us into his harebrained scheme. Like I said, his interests are very different from ours.

Speak up. We’re on the edge of the abyss.

From TPM Reader MW …

I am curious how the stories of American saber rattling have come off in local media outlets like the 10/11pm news or the local paper. Most americans still get their daily dose of news from these sources. This seems to be a worthy challenge for the people powered reporting that TPM has made famous.

I’m curious too. What are you seeing on the local news?

The Duke Cunningham investigation is alive and well, it seems.

Indictments are reportedly coming for not only Brent Wilkes, one of the two defense contractors who made their living off of (allegedly) bribing Cunningham, but also Dusty Foggo, the former executive director at the CIA.

Today’s Must Read: the U.S. struggles to keep track of who we’re fighting in Iraq.

Over at TPMmuckraker, Spencer Ackerman, we’re very excited to say, will be sitting in for the next couple weeks.

Today, he’ll be covering General George Casey’s nomination hearing, where Casey’s likely to rumble with Sen. John McCain (A-AZ) over the general’s handling of Iraq. Why? Spencer explains.

If there’s anyone left who thinks there’s much redeemable about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) get ready to change your mind. Here he is at this morning’s hearings for the nomination of Gen. Casey to be Army Chief of Staff. Remember that Casey was the top commander in Iraq. And according to the new Bush script he’s responsible for ignoring Iraq’s steady slide into anarchy over the last three years. All General Casey’s fault. Bush would have gotten serious about security. Sent new troops. Done whatever. But Gen. Casey just kept him in the dark. And here’s Sen. McCain going along with the malarkey.

It’s like a show trial.

Casey was definitely part of what’s happened in Iraq. He was the senior commander. He’s responsible too. But to imagine that he led the president down the garden path? Please.

We’ve got Spencer Ackerman at the hearings and he’ll be reporting in later at TPMmuckraker. Here’s his preview from earlier this morning.

Hmmm. Good work by Adam Nagourney. He did the Biden story. And he runs the notorious quote with the highly misleading punctuation intact. Not news that was fit to print, I guess. But makes a better story.

What would John Edwards do with his first 100 days as President? He’s already got a plan.