Expressing Confidence in the Process...

CNN reports that Iraqi democracy is progressing so rapidly that 35,000 US soldiers will patrol the streets of Baghdad on election day. I guess there will be fewer troops in Fallujah, since Fallujah no longer exists in any meaningful way...well, never mind.

You've gotta love Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who in one breath manages to say about the insurgents, "We will find you, we will watch where you move, we will listen to you speaking to each other, we will fight and we will defeat you.

You cannot sleep, eat, move or meet without the clear understanding that you may be killed or captured at any moment. Cease your operations now and you will be choosing to live."

Then, moments later, like a piddling second serve in tennis, he admits, "I cannot guarantee that there will not be any violence in Baghdad during the elections," Chiarelli said. "In fact, we should expect there will be."

Wow. I expect the insurgents must be quaking in their boots--that is, when they aren't taking advantage of their superior access to combat intelligence and either ambushing, bombing, or otherwise "bringing it on," to paraphrase a certain president of the United States.

Oh--and, as Today in Iraq pointed out, the family values Bush administration is making sure that war is something that can be experienced by both father and son--together, in the same unit, at the same time. Just think--if it hadn't been for all sorts of pesky little rules back then, Dubya and Dad could've fought the VietCong as a tagteam...

Finally, buried in the first CNN story above is this:

Department of Defense officials said 10,252 U.S. troops had suffered combat-related injuries since the Iraqi war began on March 19, 2003. Of those, 5,396 have been wounded seriously enough that they were unable to return to the battlefield, and 4,856 U.S. troops have been wounded and were able to return to duty in Iraq, according to the statistics.

Hmmm. I wonder if the Bush spinners will try a "glass half full" argument...given that almost half of the wounded soldiers get to tempt fate again. What would be the pitch? "One IED might not ruin your day after all"?