Maureen Dowd: Iran's Next, As Bush Keeps Playing 'Risk'

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532383

In her Saturday column for The New York Times, Maureen Dowd ties President Bush's new Iraq policy to his love for the game "Risk" as young man.

"I feel good about the new war with Iran," the column opens. "If a pre-emptive war in Iraq doesn’t work, why not try a pre-emptive war on Iran in Iraq? We’re trying to stanch a self-inflicted wound: our failed occupation gave Iran the opening in Iraq we’re now trying to shut down."

<snip>

"Junior was known as an extremely aggressive player in the venerable Parker Brothers board game, a brutal contest that requires bluster and bluffing as you invade countries, all the while betraying alliances. Notably, it’s almost impossible to win Risk and conquer the world if you start the game in the Middle East, because you’re surrounded by enemies.

"His gamesmanship extended to sports — he loved going into overtime and demanding that points be played over because he wasn’t quite ready....

"W.’s best friend when he was a teenager in Houston, Doug Hannah, told (writer Gail) Sheehy: 'If you were playing basketball and you were playing to 11 and he was down, you went to 15.'

"Do-overs" his entire life, right up to Florida 2000.