"People want, they actually demand, more security," he said at the Baghdad palace where the American civil administration is billeted. "And quite frankly, we don't have the forces at our disposal to do it."

There’s a problem in Iraq. Someone forgot to tell the Iraqi’s loyal to Saddam Hussein and the Baath party the war is over. Have you seen how many U.S. troops have died since the “end” of the war? In the past two weeks we’ve been averaging about one American life a day – not to mention the non-Americans killed in assaults in Israel, Chechnya, and Afghanistan. How long will it be before the number of occupation casualties eclipses U.S. war casualties? A month, maybe two? Given our experiences in Vietnam, how can the present administration honestly tell the citizens of the United States that the war is over with a straight face? G.I.s Joe and Jane won’t be coming home for Christmas.

And yet, they continue to tell us everything is fine. Administration officials claim there’s no central coordination behind the increasingly frequent attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Of course we have no idea where Saddam Hussein or his sons are at present, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone too much. Remember the final strike? The one that supposedly killed Saddam himself? It took until last week before the Military got around to excavating that site to search for Saddam’s DNA. WTF? They have time to dig up mass graves from 12 years ago when George the Elder promised military support to anti-Saddam “freedom fighters” who were then subsequently slaughtered and buried en masse by Iraqi forces when that support failed to materialize, but they haven’t found the axis of evil himself yet? I can’t say I’m surprised of course. After all, where’s Osama Bin Laden?

But wait, it gets worse. Our little war – the one that most definitely is not over yet – is costing us upwards of 100 Billion dollars. That cost was to be defrayed – so said the neo-cons – by revenue generated from the production, sale, and export of Iraqi oil. Apparently those who support Saddam – or at least those who would like to see the U.S. entrenched in a Vietnam like quagmire – have other plans. Besides killing our fellow citizens at check points and attacking their convoys, these people are specifically targeting U.S. efforts to get the Iraqi oil industry back in working order. No oil – no money.

In the meantime, official – and I use that word loosely - U.S. unemployment grew to 6.1 percent last week. Add to that the number of states having trouble meeting Homeland Security standards due to lack of funds, and you have the sorry state of the union. But don’t panic! George W. Bush has got it all figured out. W., affectionately known as “Bumble-fuck” in some circles, believes that he can solve the Middle East Problem TM and bring peace and prosperity to the world. This I gotta see.

Labels: George W. Bush, iraq, Osama bin Laden, saddam hussein