So.
Paul Bremer got the hell out of Dodge two days early, admittedly because of security concerns:
Quote:Other than the handful of senior officials participating in the handover ceremony, which was not broadcast live on television, Iraqis had no knowledge of it as it was happening. The ceremony was so secretive that even members of Bremer's senior staff did not know about it until two hours before it began, the official said.
Two hours later, Bremer's ass is gone. Two heavily armed bodyguards escorted him right to the door of the plane.
Thank you Baghdad! We love yew! Good night!
Over 130,000 troops, of course, stayed behind.
So. Iraq is now a sovereign nation.
Yeh-huh.
With a government
nobody elected. Whose security is so fraglie it had to take power in secret because of fear of massive violence. Which is likely to declare martial law any minute. Which will be enforced by occupying troops, which aren't leaving.
Things are so bad that nobody could even guarantee the security of a
single public event, which was, let us remember, supposedly the culmination of purpose for the whole invasion.
I cannot believe the media is reporting any of this with a straight face.
<begin digression>
I was fooling around doing the typical Las Vegas activities most of the day, but I did glimpse CNN's Christiane Amanpour -- whom I actually respect, since she's the one who admitted (to some brief controversy) that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq invasion -- chatting away. The conversation was mostly repetitions of the obvious, and I was about to change the channel. And then a large fly landed on her left cheek.
Whop.
And Christiane didn't even blink.
She just continued the interview, unflinching, with a fly crawling across her face for several seconds, before finally conceding the obvious --
that there was a large fly crawling across her face -- as she swatted it away. Her expression never changed, even slightly. And then she continued talking about the handover as if it was actually a palpable political change.
I laughed out loud, since this seemed a clear metaphor for how the media has reported everything lately. Deny the obvious with a straight face. Hope we don't notice and it goes away. When it doesn't, swat it off quickly. Then continue repeating the White House's latest bullshit.
<end digression>
What's going on right now is nothing but an attempt by the Bush administration to set up someone else to take the blame for the ongoing shitstorm. Remember that American domestic politics is the only reason June 30th was ever chosen in the first place -- the date was fixed
before any plan for even forming the new "government" even existed, or we had the slightest clue whom we were handing power to.
The fly continues to crawl. The anchors continue to act like we can't see it.
But it's there.
Steve (as 41oo) wrote:And this man is about to be re-elected as President of the United States of America?
Uh, no. And it won't be all that close.
. But they are pushing it the furthest.