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Gulf War Update
Nancy Waterman
Like a drunken fool driving a Ferrari down a treacherous mountain road, the Bush administration has driven the American military into a second Gulf War, flawed with muddled, unrealistic and irresponsible planning. Inebriated by its grandiose schemes and its delusions of hyperpower invincibility, Bushco suddenly finds itself ducking for cover and looking for scapegoats. Having ignored the seasoned advice of the Pentagon and the sobering intelligence of the CIA, the administration precipitously began its war with too few troops and expecting rose petals strewn in its path. It has been a rude awakening.
The heart of the Gulf War ll chart is the Sun standing at 29 Pisces, in a position that makes no further aspects until it reaches the beginning of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. This position, known as void of course (VOC) Sun, lends itself to the kind of confused, disjointed and difficult situation we have seen. Goals tend to be unrealistic, becoming derailed and difficult to implement. Perhaps after April 17, when the VOC Sun moves into Aries by tertiary progression, we will begin to see a more integrated and cohesive approach. But even with the help of this progression, the original goals of the war may never be fully implemented due to the VOC Sun at the birth moment of the war.
When the war chart is drawn up for, we get a picture of the tremendous suffering and frightening intensity on the front. With the Pluto/ Saturn opposition falling exactly on the meridian axis, the sense of a continual and often terrifying battle for survival becomes the predominant and recurrent theme. In addition, the strong 12th house influence in this chart suggests the subterfuge and deceptive tactics that are becoming the hallmark of the Iraqi military - the false surrenders, the suicide bombers, and the ambushes. Nothing is as it appears; the enemy is hidden – a signature of the 12th house.
Interestingly, when the war chart is drawn for Washington, DC, we get a somewhat different perspective. Here Jupiter is the elevated planet and exactly square to the Ascendant, where, by transit, it remains through most of April. Thus, we find the over-optimistic, self-important, and arrogant attitude that permeates Chickenhawk Central. Sure of its own success, this strong Jupiter position is also known for poor judgment and risky behavior.
There are numerous indicators that the intensity of the current military barrage will let up on or around April 7, with the period from March 27 through March 30 being especially brutal. The month-long progression of the US Moon conjunct natal Mars will peak around April 6, having been amplified by the tertiary progressed US Mercury opposite US Mars from March 17 through April 7. In addition, the first crossing of transiting Uranus square to Inaugural Jupiter, active since mid-March, culminates on April 3. But there is little sign of “victory” at this point. What transpires instead seems to be a period of frustration, waiting, confusion and obstacles, roughly from the second week in April through most of May. The Mars element – active aggression - seems to be minimized during this timeframe.
By the second week in April and continuing for a month, the progressed US Moon will move to a square with Neptune. This suggests a time of increasing loss, disillusion, and confusion, especially on the part of the American public (US Moon). During this time we find Mr. Bush increasingly constrained, frustrated, and unable to move forward. Saturn will be semisquare first his Mercury then his Pluto through April. In addition, the Mercury station (18 –19 Taurus) quincunx Pluto (19 Sagittarius) from April 20 through May 1, suggests a significant crisis time for Mr. Bush due to its activation of his progressed MC/natal Uranus (19 Gemini) configuration. There is likely to be a confrontation with North Korea around this time, as well as an intensification of bitter and painful power struggles and oppression in Iraq (Pluto/MC). The Mercury station will add the feeling of a standoff, as if events are somewhat stuck, until Mercury moves forward again.
May is the final month of the five-month period of crisis, struggle, upsets, and war predicted for Bush on this site since early 2001. Since late December 2002, the Pluto station at 19 Sagittarius has been unleashing the full unilateral, highly irritable, aggressive and unpredictable potential of Bush’s progressed MC conjunction to natal Uranus, which itself will continue through October 2003. In addition, May is also likely to bring serious and very difficult setbacks for the war effort. Transiting Saturn will move to square first Mercury then the Sun in the War chart, essentially spanning the period from the 3rd to the 27th of the month. In the Baghdad chart, the Sun rules the 6th house, suggesting a time of enormous humanitarian problems related to food and health (especially strong from May 18 through May 27). In the Washington chart, the Sun rules the 10th house, and this period could be seen as a major blow to the domestic perception of success of the war. Progress will be slow and very difficult, and the suffering of the masses will be great during the entire month.
It is likely that June will bring a significant shift in these tremendously difficult and frustrating circumstances. Optimism and energy will reemerge on the part of the administration. We may see a short, intense, and successful battle between June 7 and 13, when Jupiter squares the Inaugural converse progressed Mars/Descendant configuration. Thereafter, a feeling of victory and success seems dominant for the second half of June. Jupiter will have reached the Midheaven of the Washington War chart, as well as come into sextile with Bush’s good-luck talisman, his Moon/Jupiter conjunction.
It is conceivable that mid-June will bring the end of Gulf War ll. However, numerous indications suggest that further military action is likely for the administration, beginning possibly in mid to late July. Whether this has to do with Iraq is unclear. North Korea also seems a likely possibility.
The events of the past 10 days have greatly tarnished the aura of America’s invincibility. This trend is likely to continue through May and perhaps repeatedly during the next 16 months, as Saturn crosses the US Sun. The neo-con hawks of the White House have assumed that America’s military power could stand as a colossus astride the world, irrespective of botched diplomacy and the ire of friend and foe. Such overwhelming hubris invariably elicits a balancing response from the Universe. As the hapless Icarus learned, no one can touch the sun.
