The Bartleby Battalion

Billmon has the link to the Post article and a few remarks. My favorite is this:

From the Post:

[Maj. General Paul Eaton] declined to characterize the incident as a mutiny, but rather called it "a command failure."

Billmon's response:

No doubt -- like the Caine Command Failure, the Sepoy Command Failure, the Command Failure on the Bounty, etc.

My own thoughts when reading the article drifted to Melville. Like Bartleby, the Iraqi 2nd Batallion "preferred not to," when, in their case, the order came to fire upon the people of Fallujah. Duh.

Evereything about this so-called war of liberation has stunk to high heaven. Between the decided lack of large crowds with flowers and candy, the looting which might have had the benefit of destroying documents showing US complicity with Saddam but also shattered the bureaucratic stability that civil society requires, to the cynical awarding of reconstruction contracts--you name it--everything thus far has been a prime example of how NOT to wage war, not that war should have been waged in the first place. War by Murphy's Law.

No amount of right-wing spin can make this ugly child any prettier. Today a helicopter was shot down in Fallujah. Tomorrow, a soldier might be killed by an IED. Civilians will be randomly picked off, angering the population (but it won't be reported here, further clouding the eyes of those who support such things as the massacre of civilians).

And Bush, who apparently can't connect enough dots to understand a memo that talks about hijacking planes, strikes in the US, and targets in New York and Washington, apparently can conjure up non-existant threats from Iraq, war with which apparently became his obsession, if not addiction.

Four more years? Thanks, but I'd prefer not.