George W Bush just doesn’t seem to be having any luck finding a buddy to become his ambassador to the court of the Man of Steel. It may not be seen as a pressing issue in Washington, where the attitude to Australia borders on the paternalistic, but it is causing angst among serious players in Canberra who see the vacuum as a slight.

At last weekend’s Australia-America “dialogue” the word from senior US attendees was that “the president has this in the pipeline.” It can also be revealed that many of the same people are admitting privately that the Iraq adventure is a dismal failure, that civil war is a distinct possibility and that terrorist cells are spreading right across the invaded country which under Saddam was not tolerated.

One former State Department heavyweight told Crikey an exit strategy can’t be agreed on – it’s a case he said of Bush and his advisors v The Rest. This, he opined, is lengthening the chaos and resulting in serious loss of life. If Howard had any sense, he would pull out now was his final word of advice.