Making the World Safer

One shooting and three beheadings at a time. Welcome to BushWorld, where everything seen through the looking glass.

Even as I assume they support pResident Bush, Capital Hill Republicans are concerned about the latest sign of desperation regarding the Iraq mess--a last minute plan by the Bushoviks to divert almost $3.5 billion dollars earmarked for Iraqi reconstruction into the security budget.

The request comes as heavy fighting continues between U.S.-led forces and a variety of Iraqi insurgents. The violence and bureaucratic delays have slowed spending of reconstruction funds. Lugar said only $1.14 billion has been spent as of Sept. 8, almost a year after it had been approved by Congress...

Lugar said the reconstruction spending is important for winning the support of Iraqis. Efforts to improve security should be aimed at allowing the projects to proceed, he said.

''If the shift of these funds slows down reconstruction, security may suffer in the long run. In short, security and reconstruction must be achieved simultaneously,'' he said.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., described the request as ''an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble.''

Under the State Department's proposal, spending for police, border patrols and other security measures would be boosted by $1.8 billion to a total of $5 billion. There would be 45,000 more police, 16,000 more border patrol guards and 20 additional National Guard battalions.

Water and sewer programs which would shrink from more than $4.2 billion to more than $1.9 billion, and electricity, would be reduced by more than $1 billion from $5.47 billion.

I don't know if the Guard battalions are US or Iraqi forces (I'll assume Iraqi unless I find out otherwise), but all evidence suggests any program for arming Iraqis puts guns in the hands of insurgents. Meanwhile, civilian Iraqis will continue to be angered by our inability to provide basic services like water and electricity.

And, for the wingnuts arguing that the Iraqis themselves are to blame: uh, no. As the occupying force, the United States is responsible for security--which includes protection of services like water and utilities.

By the way, if you happened to watch Nightline last night, you could see pretty clearly just how bad things are. Koppel, to his credit, noted that he got it badly wrong in regards to Najaf last January. Back then, the city, holy to Sh'ia Muslims, was relatively calm, and Ted suggested that it could be a model for a future Iraq.

Anyone watching last night's footage would wonder if Ted meant that Iraq could soon enjoy the benefits of Afghanistan-style rubble. The Shrine to Imam Ali might still be relatively unscathed, but the rest of the city is wrecked in a way that makes the Bronx in the late 1970's look like the City of Tomorrow. Any hearts still beating or minds still functioning normally in Najaf will remember the Americans as the folks who blasted the city to smithereens.

Would YOU trust folks who did that to your house, your property, or your city?

Meanwhile, all Bush can do is act as if Iraq is still a simple matter--he was in Lost Wages Monday, crowing about how proud he was to, um, serve in the National Guard if what he did can be dignified with the term service. Meanwhile his twin partner in hate, Dick Cheney, mocked Senator Kerry, who had the temerity to agree with BushDick that the removal of Saddam Hussein was a good thing (again, for the record: I think Kerry's support of the war was NOT a good thing. My own take on Saddam Hussein is that I couldn't give a shit about him, and wish he'd up and die already--but to crow about getting him at the cost of over a thousand killed and seven thousand wounded--200 wounded this week alone--is akin to removing a boil by cutting off a limb. Anyway...). Cheney apparently has plenty of time to mock Senator Kerry--perhaps he could do so at a funeral for one of the soldiers he sent off to die.

Oh--and has anyone actually seen a BushDick plan for Iraq's future? I didn't think so.