or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
March 24, 2008
New TomDispatch
The Battle of Baghdad
Iraq's Most Fearsome Militia, the U.S. military, on the Offensive
By Michael SchwartzIn early April, General David Petraeus, the flavor of the year in American military officers, will return to Washington to report to President Bush and the Democratic Congress on the state of post-surge Iraq. His report will be upbeat, with cautious notes thrown in, and the reception will be warm. The Republicans will congratulate the President, hoping that Americans will stop complaining and finally learn to tolerate, if not love, his war; the Democrats will be quietly unhappy because they would like Iraq to remain a major election issue.
In the meantime, the Iraqis will continue to endure the results of the surge, yet another brutal chapter in the endless war that once promised them liberation.
Over the course of five years, Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, has been transformed from a metropolis into an urban desert of half-destroyed buildings and next to no public services, dotted by partially deserted, mutually hostile mini-ghettos that used to be neighborhoods, surrounded by cement barriers reminiscent of medieval fortifications. The most prominent of these ghettos is the heavily fortified city-inside-a-city dubbed the Green Zone...
The remaining ghettos, large and small, are governed by local militias, most of them sworn enemies of the United States and the Maliki regime...
As Baghdadi citizens continue to flee the threat of violence, ethnic cleansing, and economic destitution, the city waits -- whether for a definitive military confrontation or some less violent change that will bring its long ordeal to an end.
How did this all come to be?
—Jonathan Schwarz
I suppose that WE could have IMPEACHED and slowed it all down but, naturally, that would have upset the 3 year campaign for the White House. Much as one may hate to say it, xyz IS who WE really are.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 24, 2008 09:25 PMeh, he Iraqis fucked themselves up. Much like the Yugos. You know why cities like Prague and Paris still have their historic quarters so well preserved? Because they knew how to keep their mouths shut when occupied. The Iraqis could all be buying new US made autos and going on shopping trips to NYC, instead of riding around on scooters and getting killed execution style if they'd just been smart and reasonable instead of stupid and homicidal, and if they let Exxon develop their fields. Fuck em, they got what they deserved.
My litttle firecracker was pleasingly intrigued when I sms'd her that there would be some new zakuski (snacks) on the menu tonight. Eh, like all women who have the pleasure to sleep with me, she absolutely worships me : )
Posted by: xyz at March 25, 2008 07:06 AMjust out of curiosity, I scanned the whole article. What's the point? All he does is talk about dead Iraqis, trash on the streets, damaged buildings, ethnic cleansing blahblahblah. Now that erl is a hunnert dollar, it's a good thing for US to be in Iraq after all, and the PSAs are what I want to hear about, not children missing limbs.
Posted by: xyz at March 25, 2008 10:18 AMTHANX STUBBY.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 25, 2008 02:35 PMI called Nan THIS morning.(1-202-225-0100)(right after I looked in the mirror)
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 25, 2008 02:41 PMMichael wrote..."Over the course of five years, Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, has been transformed from a metropolis into an urban desert of half-destroyed buildings and next to no public services, dotted by partially deserted, mutually hostile mini-ghettos that used to be neighborhoods, surrounded by cement barriers reminiscent of medieval fortifications. The most prominent of these ghettos is the heavily fortified city-inside-a-city dubbed the Green Zone..."
Over the course of seven years, Chicago, and other big American cities, have been transformed from vibrant cities into an urban desert of neglected buildings, crumbling services, dotted by partially deserted, mutually hostile mini-ghettos that used to be neighborhoods, infused with racial tension reminiscent of the long lost idealism and lost gains from the sixties; crumbling bridges, streets cracking open, etc. America spends 10 billion dollars a month in Iraq and a fraction of that on the cities of America - with similar results.
