Iraq--Arabic for FUBAR

Take your pick as far as which article you want to read. Regardless of your point of view, the news is tragic: close to 200 killed, (the number sure to rise), at least double that injured, and a signal to all that Shock and Awe, followed by Blitzkrieg 2003 no more cleaned up the Iraq mess than 25 years of Saddamite Ba'athism.

Baton Rouge's local paper didn't publish any of the letters I sent them--all strongly in opposition to the war. I came across a few last night and gave them a re-read. In several, I used the "hornet's nest" analogy to describe the situation: you know, if you beat on a hornet's nest with a baseball bat, sure, you might get them to vacate--but expect at least a FEW stings.

The American public might well yawn at this latest tragedy--we've never given much thought to the general welfare of the world's masses, regardless of the present administration's high sounding rhetoric about "reshaping the Middle East." In Haiti, we've shown that we are more than willing to spit on the democratic process in order to remove a president who doesn't suit our tastes, while just this morning I heard the announcer on NPR, of all things, casually mention that perhaps most Americans are simply suffering from news "burnout" with Iraq...

Hmmn. Sort of like finally suffering from "Friends" burnout, I guess--or Seinfeld burnout, MASH burnout--hell, even Superbowl ad burnout, if this year is any indication. Unfortunately, we can't just stage a "final three episodes" in Iraq, with an eye for a last chance to cash in on some killer ratings, and then move on to Max Max VI: Beyond Golgotha (aside: I picture Mad Mel telling Jesus, "This bomb is set to detonate in 12 minutes. It'll take you at least twenty minutes to saw through the cross--but you should be able to saw off your arms in five").

Nah--even booting Saddam off out of the spider hole won't save this show--and James Spader is too busy with The Practice. But this one must grimly go on--no one is calling for a troop withdrawal, and everyone knows that chaos and civil war will commence once the US presence drops below a critical level. So--on it goes. As long as our soldiers are pretty heavily garrisioned--and they are--they're relatively safe, but resupply convoys will continue to be vulnerable, as will anyone without some sort of local escort...that is, assuming the local escort doesn't become a target.

About the only thing that's surprised me is how quickly the situation has decayed. I figured it would take at least 2 or 3 years--if not 5 or 10--before things fell apart, but here we are not even a year into the occupation, and no one wants to look at it anymore...

It reminds me of something I recall from a journalism class I took up at UW. During the lecture that covered NPR, the day's guest instructor (actually the teaching assistant) quoted one of the network's founders commenting on the first day of broadcasting: "we have seen our baby, and it is UGLY."

And it's going to get worse before it gets better.