In Hell-Hole Iraqi News

Yesterday morning, I was surprised to see CBC Newsworld broadcasting live the pep talk from the US Ambassador to Iraq and the top US general over there. I watched a bit, while brushing my teeth, and a bit was all I needed. Bush is being criticized for his stay-the-course policy (“But I NEVER said that” sez W, apparently oblivious to the fact that television news conferences and interviews can be replayed at a later date!) so that poor general has to make the argument that they have never been staying the course, but have been bobbing, weaving and adapting since the beginning, like Woody Allen describing a relationship as an ever-moving shark in Annie Hall. Right! Sorry, general, but you’ve got a dead shark on your hands.

I was surprised at how useless the reporting was on this story. As usual, the only one who called them on this bullshit was (you guessed it) our man Michael Ware, who said “we’ve heard it all before”. To his credit, he didn’t yawn while saying it.

The guy who is really screwed here is powerless PM Al-Maliki. He’s snapping at his American occupiers, who feel free to put words in his mouth and then let him deny them. What a crap job he has.

Al-Maliki has clearly fallen out of favour with the Americans, and they are planning to toss him out. Isn’t about time the US installed every-Neocon’s-favourite-Iraqi, Chalabi the Hideous Worm, into power? Wasn’t this Cheney’s goal all along? There’s nobody left to run the place, and they obviously won’t take my advice, which is: Bring Back Saddam! Free the Man in the Hole! He will restore order.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Tony says the British policy in Iraq won’t change. What? He’s “staying the course”? Didn’t he get the memo?