Berlusconi's Ploy

The first sentence says it all:

The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, today agreed to resign and form a new government to strengthen his struggling conservative coalition, a move that will avert fresh elections.

He has one year left in his "elected" term, but internal pressures are so great he has come to this last, strange step of Italian policy to preserve his last year. Sounds like desperation to me. Of course, after his undying support of the American invasion of Iraq, Ol'Berls was left pretty burned when we shot Guiliana Sgrena and killed her Special Ops bodyguard Nicola Calipari and it became evident to Berls that his country did not support the actions of the Americans nearly as much as he did.

Self-preservation at any price. Thankfully this tradition doesn't really stand in America, because Ol'Berls and Bushie have been close pals.