Ding Dong Hussein Is Dead!

But this ain't Oz.

I used to wait with baited breath each year, for the annual airing of America's favorite foursome – Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion (and Toto too!). Our heroes traipsed through the Technicolor land of Oz in search of the Wizard who, it was promised, would show them the way home to America's sepia-toned heartland – Kansas.

The climax of The Wizard of Oz came when Dorothy dowsed the Wicked Witch of the West with a simple bucket of water. Winged monkeys squawked as the Wicked Witch cried "I'm melting! I'm melting!" In a heartbeat, the witch was gone.

The people of Oz threw a party. They were liberated. "Ding dong the witch is dead," they cried! And the main obstacle to Dorothy's quest for the way home was gone.

On December 30, many across the globe cried a proverbial "Ding dong Hussein is dead!" People danced, people shot guns in the air, people blogged. But this ain't Oz.

Hussein's guilty verdict was cause to rejoice, for sure: The world saw and acknowledged Hussein's crimes against humanity, committed when he murdered 148 Shiite men and boys in 1982. But Hussein's death has brought the U.S. no closer today to bringing our troops home than it was two days ago, two months ago, or two years ago. In fact, the dictator's death may actually serve to increase the insurgent violence in an already buckling Iraq. This, as the U.S. military death toll tops 3,000 (more than the number lost on 9/11).

The Iraq Study Group issued a comprehensive plan for a way forward (and out) of Iraq, but the Bushies seem to have snubbed their noses at the group's plan. Rather, Bush seems to favor the Pentagon's plan to "double down" in Iraq with 20,000+ more troops to confront Muqtada Sadr, the radical Shiite leader standing in the way of the Iraqi government's development. But, in recent days top generals have questioned the plan's viability. They believe it could break an already over-stretched U.S. military for no real gain.

Soon, Bush will choose America's course. Pray.

After the witch dies in the classic saga, the fabled foursome (and Toto) make their way to the Wizard. There, they are surprised to learn that Dorothy had what she needed to get home all along. All she had to do was to close her eyes, click her ruby encrusted heels three times, and say "There's no place like home. There's no place like home." You get the point.

I wish three clicks was all it took to end our current nightmare in Iraq. But, again, this ain't Oz.

I'm curious. What do you think it will take to find our way home from Iraq? Click and tell.