Ta Ta


Or should it be "bon soir?" If England opts out, Coalition of the Billing, um, I mean Willing, already lighter than Shrub's puny intellect, might just float off into the aether:

Chief of the General Staff Richard Dannatt told the Daily Mail newspaper that post-war planning for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was "poor" and the presence of troops there was hurting British security globally.

The remarks, extraordinary from such a senior serving officer, could have political fallout on both sides of the Atlantic. The war has damaged the standing of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and is a major issue for U.S. President George W. Bush's allies in congressional elections next month.

Interestingly, Reuters can't resist demonstrating some upper crust British "hrrrumph" bias, framing the story as "being seized upon by opponents" of the war...

Well, duh--although it's less a seizure (we'll leave that to Big Time) and more acknowledgement that Operation Enduring Clusterfuck is just that...and that ANY pathetic excuse to the contrary is merely enabling the large, gassy, lighter-than-air, parade-float-like ego of Shrub--and his parade float poodle, Tony Blair--to expand even further...at the expense of more blood and more treasure.

Besides, once the WMD canard was shown for the lie it was, the supposed "reason" for invasion included bringing "democracy to the Iraqis," which is yet another argument in favor of getting the hell out:

In Basra, where most of Britain's 7,200 troops are based, locals told Reuters they agreed it was time for them to go.

"In the last three years, people started to look at these troops in a different way. They simply hate these troops," said school teacher Fatima Ahmed, 35.

Finally, haven't we quite simply had enough of this?

A coroner ruled Friday that U.S. forces unlawfully killed a British television journalist in the opening days of the Iraq war.

Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said he would ask the attorney general to take steps to bring to justice those responsible for the death of Terry Lloyd, 50, a veteran reporter for the British television network ITN.

Yeah, I know the war's proponents value Iraqi lives at barely a penny on the dollar--if that much--but Lloyd's fate has now been matched by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, who most certainly did NOT have any say in the matter. And, if nothing else, the toll on our own military is becoming intolerable.

That's a hell of a price to pay for Shrub's ego gratification...or his poodle's.