Tidbits from Iraq

First, I saw this AP headline the other day regarding Zarqawi's timely demise..."Al-Zarqawi's death may not stop civil war." It appears that the AP has gotten stuck on stupid yet again. I was going to blog about it, but then I saw that Perry had already said about everything that I needed to say. Bottom line, this is an example of the press taking what should be an opportunity to savor a rare clear victory in this long war and say "yes but..." But hey, they seem to do that to everything, so what the hell...I'm going to keep listening to my Gladiator soundtrack and plotting the sacking of several nearby cities. What, the music has that effect on me...Max-i-mus, Max-i-mus, Max-i-mus!!!

In other news, I saw this AP story today regarding Gen. Casey 's remarks that there will likely be troop withdrawals in the coming months, provided the Iraqi government and security forces continue to stand up as they have done in the past several months. At the end of the article, we have quotes from two of our illustrious Congress-critters demonstrating a complete lack of reading comprehension...

"Democratic Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record) of Rhode Island, a member of the Armed Service Committee, said he hopes it is realistic. "We have to get our forces out," Reed said. "Our forces are under tremendous wear and tear."

Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said the United States should hold the Iraqis to that timetable.

"That's an authoritative statement," Specter said. "Now let's see him do it.""

So, in response to a statement that withdrawal of U.S. forces is possible, Congress' response is that we "have to get our forces out" and that it was "an authoritative statement." I guess "provided the Iraqi government and security forces continue to stand up" means nothing to them. As they stand up, we will stand down. Simple as that, no matter what some idiot Congressmen may spout off.

Finally, this isn't about Iraq, but I found it rather amusing, in a sad sort of way. While you wouldn't know it from the media coverage, Islamists now rule most of Somalia, including the "capitol" of Mogadishu. In order to win the hearts and minds, they have outlawed the viewing of World Cup games. While to most American readers this probably means nothing, this is about the equivalent of banning the viewing of the World Series, NBA Finals, and Super Bowl in the U.S...for 4 years in a row. In response, there was massive riots that left 2 people dead. Make us grow beards, force the veil, take away all things fun, but don't touch our World Cup!!!

(h/t - Brendan Loy)