But... the Bush MO relies on a combination of evil and incompetence, so as soon as the attack plan was in place the chances of a good outcome began to shrivel towards non-existence.

And someone more competent and less evil, like Clinton, would never have invaded in the first place. Even if Kerry had won in 04, it was too late to rescue the situation by then.

The non-evil and (arguably) competent thing to do at this point is to get the US out and install a UN peacekeeping force.

Meanwhile back in the US it's a kind of reverse Sovietization, politically and culturally, and also economically. The NeoCons apparently had such a good time persuading themselves that defence spending bankrupted the USSR that they've decided to try the same tactic on their home audience.

I think we may need to get used to the idea that if the Bush Plan continues and oil prices start spiking regularly, the US won't be able to afford anything like its current levels of military presence. An economy implodes when the costs of production and transportation are far higher then possible profit margins. At that point food stops being grown and transported and everything gets very unpleasant very quickly. Keeping aircraft carriers afloat may prove difficult when no one is being paid.

I'm hoping that an inward-looking and retrospective Christian Fascistocracy isn't the most likely outcome, but without a change of direction it probably is.

And ironically Europe is best placed to fill the gap. Not militarily, but certainly economically and perhaps also politically. I think there's more political and social resilience here, and probably more willingness to deal with discomfort when aiming for a soft landing. (Although I could easily be very wrong about that last part.)