The US military-killing people pointlessly for over 200 years!

Well, further acknowledgment by some generals that we seem to have a little problem over there in I-rak comes in this NY Times article, via the indispensable Left I On The News. Some officers assert that Iraqi troops might not be able to manage the country in its present state. Geez, there's a shock. Not sure that anyone could handle the country in it's present state. Or perhaps they're just afraid that these soldiers might not accede to the US "vision" for Iraq and so they want to keep a lid on the chaos there. The official confirmation (unfortunately but not unsurprisingly buried deep in the Old Grey Biooootch) of course is not necessarily more depressing to me because this is something that I've known about as probably many of you have, but as reality (?-fear? insecurity? discomfort? karma?) starts to catch up with these folks, well, perhaps all will see The Empire-r has no clothes. Unfortunately, this reminds me of an Onion article (sorry can't provide the link but if you visit The Onion you can search for Bush Exit Through Iran or something similar and if you're a subscriber ($30 a year) you can read it) that is waaay too darkly funny. The idea is that Bush does have an exit strategy and that it involves going through Iran. Obviously the joke is that Bush intends to get access to the wealth of resources Iran has.

Another piece that would be funny if it weren't actually true I also found at Left I via eStripes. It's sad when the military's official paper for its soldiers has to report such humiliating news-and not as parody but as straight fact and with no irony or what-not. Oh well. Yes, it seems that the transition to Iraqis taking ownership of their new military is really instilling pride in countrymen not in the army. Yup, maybe the army over there will need its own army. Nice to see everything's under control.

And finally, a thoughtful, reflective piece by Dahr Jamail on his feelings as an Iraqi-American war correspondent who is returning to report in Iraq for his second tour since the Occupation began. Jamail is unembedded and decided to report from Iraq when he became tired of the disingenuous media coverage in the MSM. His work is honest and thoughtful and obviously derives from a desire to see the best for the people of his country of origin. In this piece, he considers his thoughts and reactions to living in the surreally peaceful United States when, he believes, the country should be in an uproar over the war in Iraq. He finds much evidence of discomfort with the US' policy on Iraq but is also disappointed there isn't more outrage. Anyway, my account of his sensitive and piercing prose won't do it justice, so I'll stop writing about it-just go read it!