The sharks are circling. No weapons of mass destruction have been found, and the world is wondering if it has been colossally duped by the right wing cabal in the Oval Office. Intelligence agents are coming forward in droves to protest the blatant dishonesty used by the administration to foist its war on the American people. It seems the indisputable “facts” concerning huge caches of diabolical and destructive weaponry have been manipulated, exaggerated, or even made up.
In order to circumvent the more traditional sources of information in the CIA and the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, in late 2001, created his own intelligence cadre, the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans. Run by fellow neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, this intelligence agency was spawned specifically to find evidence of Saddam’s connection to al Qaida and prove that the dictator harbored a huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. All contradictory indications were studiously ignored. And it was largely on this spurious “evidence” that the administration shrilly promulgated its case for war.
We have previously discussed Rumsfeld’s progressed Jupiter conjunction to progressed Neptune, which culminates this fall, after having increased in potency for the past six years. This aspect suggests his inability to differentiate his ideology (9th house placement) from reality, his penchant to delude himself and others based on a fantasy perception of truth. In addition, it lends a grandiosity and unrealistic confidence to his understanding of unfolding events.
Another aspect with a similar impact is the current transit of Neptune opposite Rumsfeld’s natal 9th house Mercury, spanning from February 2003 through early January 2004. This transit also brings a self-delusional quality to Rumsfeld’s thinking, giving it the ideological tinge of the 9th house. Taken together, these two configurations suggest that Rumsfeld’s appraisal of events and military plans can be dangerously far from realistic or pragmatic, and instead reflect self-deception, an arrogant optimism, and an ideological component that is downright dangerous.
The current crisis in confidence in the Bush administration that is emerging as the country and the world begin to doubt the “intelligence” on which the war was based, and especially Rumsfeld’s hand in it, can be seen in the Secretary of Defense’s chart. A multitude of Saturn transits are impacting him from May 27 through June 23, 2003, suggesting that this will be a time of increasing restraint on his more grandiose impulses, as well as a time of diminishing popularity and stature. Currently Saturn is squaring Rumsfeld’s Midheaven, soon to be followed by Saturn conjunct his natal Venus, square his natal Moon, and quincunx his natal Saturn.
Interestingly, we find indications in both the US chart and the Inaugural chart that suggest that this time of decreasing support and growing mistrust also impacts the administration. Saturn will be quincunx the Inaugural Sun from June 2 through June 11, followed by Saturn square the US Midheaven from June 11 through June 19, 2003. It would seem that the clamor about the deceptive intelligence used to manipulate and inflame people’s fears will continue through most of June, only building in intensity. Not coincidentally, Karl Rove seems to be struggling and despondent during almost the same period, June 12 through June 27, with Saturn square his natal Saturn and opposite his natal Sun. This can only reflect shrinking public support for the Undressed Emperor.
The outrage over fabricated WMD is unlikely to be resolved in late June, but may be moved to a smoldering location in the background while other more pressing concerns crowd it out of the headlines. A protracted malaise may be creeping across the land by then, as seemingly intractable problems weigh down on the country. The economy may seem to be increasingly mired in difficulty around this time and other more severe issues may also be surfacing. The period from June 21 through June 27 may bring some very painful, difficult, and possibly violent events that could cast their shadow into a tumultuous July. This is indicated by Saturn crossing the US Venus (strongly triggered by the Saturn/Sun conjunction of June 23-24) and the Mars/Uranus conjunction quincunx the US Midheaven.
The usually buoyant, optimistic American spirit will be somewhat muted in late June and July 2003 as Saturn crosses the US Venus and, a few weeks later, the US Jupiter. Economic and other difficulties will be weighing heavily. Into this atmosphere, an aggressive whirlwind by the administration suddenly begins on or around July 11 or 12. At this point, Bush and Rumsfeld are likely to launch us into a bellicose, bold, and possibly military series of events that last at least until mid-August. Bush may actually retrieve some of his lost popularity briefly, from July 14 through 19, when Jupiter crosses his Venus, but this will rapidly diminish thereafter.
The astrological signature of these militant and disruptive events from mid-July through mid-August includes: transiting Mars stationary opposite Bush’s progressed Sun/natal Mars; transiting Mars stationary square Rumsfeld’s Ascendant; transiting Mars square US Uranus; and transiting Uranus stationary square Inaugural Jupiter (one of the same aspects that occurred during Gulf War ll). Taken together, these aspects suggest aggressive, forceful, and hawkish action on the part of the administration beginning in mid-July.
With the current exposure of dishonesty used to agitate support for its misbegotten war in Iraq, as well as its incredibly poor post-war planning, the administration no longer seems so invulnerable. It will soon become apparent that the tide has turned. Despite whatever wag-the-dog action is taken to distract the masses this summer, by September 2003, and through the remainder of the year, a steady drumbeat of turmoil and difficulty will unfold for the administration. Bush and his minions will have created an economic quagmire at home, as well as numerous quagmires abroad, diplomatically and militarily. The Bush administration’s ideological arrogance, blind and deaf to all rational discourse, will have brought itself and the country to a dark and critical juncture by year’s end.
