Like a teenager who brazenly takes the family car on a wild and drunken joy ride and ends up smashed and in a ditch, the Bush administration, intoxicated on its grandiose dream of American Empire, has driven the nation head-on into the wreckage of Iraq. As with the hapless teenager, there really is no successful exit strategy. We can continue to escalate and meet with increasing indigenous resistance, as well as increasing hostility and growing terrorism in the Arab world. We can retreat and withdraw, allowing the Iraqi nation to be torn apart by civil war and become a "failed state" and a nest for al Qaeda. Or we can give up our oversight power in Iraq (and our economic and military designs) to the United Nations, and hope they would be willing to step in, despite the deteriorating and dangerous situation. To those of us untainted by corporate schemes and fantasies of American power, the third option is by far the best, though it, too, comes with a price. All of that blood and money will have purchased a decidedly mixed bag, for Iraq is likely to become a potentially unfriendly Islamic state if given a truly free election, and American dreams of an alliance, limitless oil, and a military base could well go up in smoke.
For the moment, the Bush administration has chosen to escalate its military response to the insurgency, coupled with a plan to install a provisional Iraqi government and train Iraqi police and military to take over the security of the country as swiftly as possible. The current goal for transition is July 1, 2004. To many, this is a veiled version of cut and run. In a recent post on his Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall describes the paradox in this plan perfectly:
What's really troubling about the moves we now seem ready to make is that we're about to launch the wobbly new Iraqi provisional ship of state out into the very same gale force winds that we ourselves have found too difficult to endure.
The increase of violent rebellion and instability in Iraq in the past few months may be seen in the transit of Uranus opposed to Iraq's natal Sun/Mercury conjunction from early September through December 14, 2003. Since Uranus went direct on November 8, this process has gone into high gear. The resulting crisis for Bush is indicated in his chart by the final transit of Pluto in opposition to his progressed Midheaven/natal Uranus, which manifests through the entire month of November. This configuration intensifies Bush's sense of power and his aggressive attempts to eradicate the resistance, while simultaneously stimulating a feeling of desperate fear and power struggle. It also has the potential to bring about sudden and powerful transformation, as we have seen by the recent upsurge of violence and the resulting about-face in plans to pass the torch to an Iraqi Provisional Authority as soon as possible.
The sobering energy of Saturn that has plagued the Bush administration since early June 2003 and brought the harsh tones of reality into focus is now beginning to slightly recede until June and July 2004, when it will return, with possibly devastating results. Although it will continue as a background refrain over the next several months, Saturn's prominence will give way to Mars'. Thus, it is quite likely that Bush's response to any and all issues from November 2003 through May 2004 will be aggressive, forceful, reckless, and impatient.
The increasingly aggressive tone in Bush's life will come from his two Mars progressions: progressed Sun conjunct natal Mars (9Virgo) and converse progressed Mars conjunct the Ascendant (7 Leo). These are triggered significantly from late December 2003 through May 2004. The significant aspects for Bush are: converse progressed Moon conjunct natal Mars/progressed Sun, 12/24/03 to 1/24/04; transiting Pluto sesquiquadrate natal Ascendant/converse progressed Mars, February through mid-April 2004; and transiting Jupiter stationary conjunct natal Mars/progressed Sun, 4/4 to 5/22/04. The suggestion of an increased military focus is reiterated in the US chart for the same period, during which a stationary transiting Pluto opposes the US natal Mars, from January through May 2004.
There is also corroboration in both the Gulf War II chart and the Iraqi chart that the coming year will see very transformative and wrenching events in Iraq. The Gulf War II chart is especially interesting because its powerful Pluto/Saturn opposition, the signature of the unrelenting and vicious power struggle that we have been witnessing since last March, will be extensively highlighted over the next twelve months. In this chart, natal Pluto sits very close to the natal Midheaven, describing the very dominating and controlling force manifested by the Coalition. From December 2003 through early November 2004, transiting Pluto will move to the exact conjunction with the natal Midheaven (20Sagittarius42). This suggests a strong attempt by the Coalition to exercise total control over the situation in Iraq during this period. It also suggests a total transformation in the meaning of the war itself by the end of 2004 as a result of the ongoing power struggle. This transit is especially powerful from December 8, 2003 through January 9, 2004; from May 9 through June 19, 2004; and from August 30 through November 6, 2004.
The very close Saturn opposition to Pluto in the war chart suggests a perpetual indigenous resistance to the Plutonian domination from above (MC). Saturn here sits very near the IC and represents the domestic (IC) conservative elements in society: those who want to return to the old regime; those who prefer the strict religious way of life; and those who simply resist any western influence. These conservative elements (Saturn) struggle endlessly with the attempted control of the Coalition authorities (Pluto), and the ensuing battle hinders the implementation of the goals of the war (both Saturn and Pluto square the Sun/goals). As of April 2004, for a year's duration, the secondary progressed IC will be exactly conjunct natal Saturn (22Gemini45), intensifying the power of these indigenous, hindering forces and their ability to sabotage the war aims of the Coalition.
The birth chart of Iraq also suggests monumental and extremely disruptive changes during the coming year. We are currently in the last weeks of the Uranus opposition to the Iraqi Sun and Mercury, both situated in the 12th house of secret enemies. Thus, disruption and revolt have come from hidden forces that have been gathering strength and creating chaos, attempting to lead the country in a covert way (12th house Sun). These events may subside temporarily after December 15, 2003, as the Coalition Authority intensifies its command and control with the advent of Pluto on the war chart Midheaven (see above).
From late January through mid-February 2004, tremendous dislocation, violence, and chaos are possible in Iraq. Uranus will be square the Midheaven in the Iraqi chart for the final time, suggesting upsets and wild, unexpected events. The first crossing of Uranus to this degree brought with it the uncontrolled looting and civil anarchy of the early post-war days. This transit follows on the heels of a potentially powerful military thrust by the United States, indicated by the first pass of Pluto opposite US Mars, the final pass of Uranus square Inaugural Jupiter, and Uranus quincunx US Midheaven.
Further extreme disruption and suddenly shifting and violent events are possible in Iraq when Uranus moves to transit opposite the natal Ascendant (4Virgo54), impacting the country from mid-March 2004 through January 2005. The most potent periods of this transit will be in later March 2004, late July and August 2004, and January 2005, when the final transformation may be completed. We can expect rebellion and civil unrest to be quite visible, with potentially devastating consequences to the land and people. Even if the Iraqi Provisional authority takes over as planned in July 2004, disruptive and chaotic circumstances will nonetheless continue through January 2005.
Thus, extensive turmoil is on the horizon for Iraq until January 2005, due to the protracted and transformative series of Uranus transits. Intensified military engagement is likely from the US from November 2003 through early June 2004, and may well continue through to the end of 2004, due to the Pluto transit opposite US Mars. But beneath these outer circumstances, more subtle energies compel, obscure, encourage, or punish action. It is through these that the lingering significance of events takes root.
Beginning in December 2003, in effect for all of 2004, but intensifying from mid-May through early November 2004, a potentially devastating planetary configuration will impact George Bush. This is the transit of Pluto to his 5th House, Sagittarian South Node. Pluto transiting this point brings a compulsion to act in a rash and reckless manor, not fully heeding the consequences, but willing to gamble on one's luck. It overemphasizes a unilateral approach and a tendency to dominate rather than confer. It, moreover, trusts philosophy or ideology over rational thought, to its detriment. These are all qualities of the South Node in Sagittarius in the 5th house. They are simply intensified and made compulsive by the addition of Pluto during late 2003 and 2004.
When we consider the Pluto/South Node influence combined with the aggressive and military indications for 2004, the possibility emerges that Bush will push too hard in Iraq and other areas and not heed the warning signs screaming from the sidelines. Pluto has a way of taking things to an extreme position before the inevitably radical shift that transpires as a result of its ill-conceived (with the South Node) plans.
To confuse matters, however, there is a series of aspects in the US chart that suggest intermittent support for the President during 2004, and a certain amount of seemingly good news, that may prove illusory in the long run. Progressed US Venus will be square to the US natal Sun, reaching the exact aspect around September 12, 2004. This suggests some strong positive feelings for the President, as well as a boost in the economy. But it is Neptune, the planet of illusion, deceit, and ultimate disappointment, that is the primary trigger for this progression during the year. From late January to mid-February, and again from late July through the end of the year, we find Neptune quincunx the US Sun and George Bush's Sun. This indicates times when the country and Bush get carried away with false impressions and deceptions, which exalt but ultimately disappoint. This may be especially true in late January and February 2004, when the US progressed Moon will be conjunct natal Venus and transiting Uranus will trine natal Venus, suggesting a period of contented and prosperous feeling among the population. It is possible this feeling will relate in part to some successful military operations that may seem for a time to be resolving the Iraqi situation.
Interestingly, despite the accentuated Venus aspects for the country in late January and February 2004, Mr. Bush's natal chart shows February 8 through March 23 to be a difficult time, possibly diminishing his personal appeal. The Saturn station will be exactly semisquare his Venus during this period. This more personalized Saturn energy overlaps the strong Venus aspects, but then continues for over three more weeks past them. Perhaps the initial illusory glow in February is followed by a more realistic and damaging appraisal of events come March. As mentioned above, this is when Uranus will begins to oppose the Ascendant in the Iraqi chart, and a great deal of chaos and turmoil may suddenly erupt there.
Thus, late 2003 and 2004 are likely to bring aggressive, possibly rash, military action, dramatic victories, and then awareness of an intractable problem resurfacing on and off throughout the year. The return of the extraordinarily difficult Saturn and Pluto aspects in June to the US Sun and Bush's South Node, respectively, suggests that the looming deadline for a Provisional Government in Iraq may either be dropped or lead to a very unsatisfactory conclusion. Also worthy of note is the fact that the disruptive indications in the Iraqi chart and the evidence of military activity in the US chart shift right around the November 2004 US election and the subsequent presidential inauguration, suggestive of a distinct shift in policy at that time.
