So, just how do you say “Vietnam” in Arabic?
There's a news report in the Washington Post from a writer who has been visiting the scene of our Splendid Little War™ in Iraq off and on for the past couple of years. "Turning the corner" is not the phrase that comes to mind when I read it.
The press corps, including veteran war correspondents, was sequestered in Hussein's old palace (inside the Green Zone -- ed) for most of the seven-hour stay. We were discouraged from wandering the palace and were provided escorts to go to the bathroom.
So. It's not just that Iraq is unsafe for Americans. It's not just that the city of Baghdad is unsafe for Americans. It's not just that the Green Zone is unsafe for Americans. No, it's that the palace that the United States is using as a headquarters building is unsafe for Americans. Oh, yeah, we're really turning the corner in Iraq. 2105 dead American soldiers, a couple of hundred dead soldiers from the coalition of the duped and blackmailed, between 100,000 and 300,000 dead Iraqi citizens, (at least) US$215 billion in American taxes, torture enshrined as the law of the land, and the contempt of the rest of the civilized world, and American reporters can't even safely walk around inside the Imperial headquarters in Baghdad.
But at least the well-connected friends of the junta are able to loot the US treasury without fearing arrest, and that's what's really important.
(link via Atrios)