The Safety Dance

I'm taking a quick look around the blogs as well as the mainstream press right now. Damn, I think even George W. Bush could figure out that there's a huge mess in the Middle East--that is, if you could take his mind off his shiny new toy. That's right: Dubya now possesses Saddam Hussein's revolver (I read this first at The Island of Balta).

CNN is repeating headlines, reporting on yet another blast near the "Green Zone." At this point they could probably add "Blast Near Baghdad Green Zone" to the style sheet, and enter the details when they become available. I wonder what color the terrorist alert is there? Some folks claimed that Iyad Allawi's motorcade passed by moments before the blast, although a spokesperson for the Prime Minister designate seems to have learned a lesson or two from Scott McClellan.

Allawi's "honeymoon" seems to have lasted negative thirty days.

The New York Times has a story on renewed fighting in Najaf and Kufa. In a major gaffe that would be hilarious if the situation wasn't simply tragic, the story notes a premature announcement of the killing of Moqtada Al-Sadr. Billmon has a good post regarding this "shot-while-trying-to-resist-arrest" non-story, suggesting that the Iraqi security forces--who deserted--might well have dropped the flyers on their way out the door.

More from the Times: complaints from Iraqi citizens that US forces either assaulted them or stole their property are finally being taken seriously by higher ups in the ranks. Um--didn't anyone mention to the troops that theiving and assaulting were bad from a hearts and minds point of view?

Still more from the Times: at least twenty death certificates were drawn up on Abu Ghraib detainees only after the abuse investigation began. Maybe the dog ate them...

Atrios links over to Robert Novak's Sun Times op-ed, which is as damning an assessment of the Afghanistan war as anything. The Taliban are engaging in the kind of activities that eventually forced the Soviets from the country. Drug production is way up--rule of law is, um--isn't.

Then there's the, uh, incident in Saudi Arabia. Again citing Billmon (scroll down to Saudi Riddle)--why did the terrorists attack foreigners and not oil infrastructure? They could bring down the House of Saud by going after the pipelines, storage facilities, refineries, or pumping stations. Do the Saudis know something we don't? Of course they do. Our "intelligence" is so abysmal in the Middle East that out-of-the-loop could well be a goal to achieve--sort of a step up for us. That said, the possibility that some sort of deal has been struck between the kingdom and Al Qaeda is--let's say it ISN'T my idea of a secure Middle East, especially when Al Qaeda factions seem to be testing the limits of said deal, if it exists.

In the interest of balance, I guess, there's this story about a bomb blast at a Sh'ia Mosque in Karachi, thus ensuring a bloody day throught the entire region.

And I haven't even mentioned Gaza.

You know, Bush I, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, proclaimed "The New World Order." What is Bush Lite's legacy? The New Discord? The New Ongoing Violence? Whatever it is, the future of the Middle East has certainly been transformed beyond Dubya's wildest dreams. The problem we face, though, is the end result, which will be more like a nightmare.

Happy Memorial Day.