Six Degrees of Chip Diller

It's probably a sad commentary on my life that I so often return to the same pop culture resources in times of national or international distress. These touchstones range in complexity from "Caddyshack" to "Animal House". Today, my reference comes from John Landis' epic struggle of good (Deltas) against evil (Omegas), and my current event to rub up against this backdrop is the escalation of Turkish troops in Iraq.
I remember, near the end of "Animal House", as the Deltas have begun to wreak havoc on the Faber College Homecoming Parade, Omega pledge and ROTC recruit Chip Diller pleads frantically with the screaming crowd, "All is well!" With each successive cut, we find young Chip becoming more exasperated, then hysteric. It reminds me, as the clock continues to wind down on the Pinhead Regime, that all is not well, in spite of what Defense Secretary (and former Omega pledge) Robert Gates would like us to believe.
This is the first confirmed ground operation by the Turkish military into Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that removed Saddam Hussein. It also raised concerns that it could trigger a wider conflict with the U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds, despite Turkey's assurances that its only target was the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. So, while everyone is busy watching the parade we call our presidential primaries, another front is opening up on a war that we "hope" to be drawing troops from in the next twelve months.
And there's poor Chip Diller, pulling his hat down over his bright red face, screaming hoarsely, "All is well!"