Three Stories: the day's surreal news.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. British troops raid police station in south Iraq
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/12/26/british_troops_raid_police_station_in_south_iraq/

In which reporter Christopher Torchia, Associated Press cannot decide how to bullshit us on what happened, and thereby betrays himself.

"BAGHDAD -- Backed by tanks, British soldiers raided a police station in the southern city of Basra yesterday, killing seven gunmen in an effort to stop renegade Iraqi officers from executing their prisoners, the British military said."

Gunmen? Or Policemen? Torchia knows that what happened here is that the Brits, in their ongoing war with the indiginous Basra police force, assaulted a police station. So are the folks inside the police station 'gunmen' or 'policemen'?

"The operation showed how closely aligned some police units are with militias and death, and the challenges coalition forces face as they transfer authority for security to Iraqis."

I have to utter the trite 'ya think?' here, but I will make a resolution to not do so in the future. Actually the operation showed just how little sovereignty Iraqis have, even in the supposed success story of southern Iraq.

""British troops were fired on as they approached the station and their return fire killed seven gunmen, said Major Charlie Burbridge, a British spokesman.""

Major Burbridge is claiming self defense then as his soldiers assaulting the police station WITH TANKS were shot at by the gunmen or policemen inside the station. The nerve!

"The British demolished the building in an effort to disband the unit. "We identified the serious crimes unit as, frankly, too far gone," Burbridge said. "We just had to get rid of it.""

This is at least the second time that a Basra police station has been assaulted and demolished by the British forces in the region.

2. Pro-insurgent TV plays up US losses in Iraq War effort
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/12/26/pro_insurgent_tv_plays_up_us_losses_in_iraq_war_effort/

It seems that in Iraq the sunni insurgents have their own satellite tv broadcast station. Does that mean that we are winning because they are becoming just like us?

"The scene on the newly launched Al Zawraa satellite television channel could have been footage from the boardroom of any company, if it weren't for the ski masks the men wore and the subject of the meeting: future mortar attacks on US bases in Iraq.

The renegade, pro-insurgent Al Zawraa channel, with a 24-hour diet of propaganda against US forces and the Iraqi government, has become something of a sensation throughout the country, drawing condemnation from US officials, Iraqi politicians, and Friday prayer leaders."

Anyone care to guess what conclusions one could draw about the real state of affairs in the nation formerly known as Iraq if the dead-enders, furry fighters, terrsts and surgeons have their own damn tv station?


3. Military considers recruiting foreigners
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/26/military_considers_recruiting_foreigners/

And finnally for your surreal consideration I give an army that is so strung out trying to meet its current recruitment goals that not only is it recruiting morons (see earlier reports about the declining standards for new recruits) but it is now hiring foreigners with promis of eventual citizenship. Didn't Rome go through a similar crisis?

"WASHINGTON -- The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials."

So about those proposals to increase the size of the armed forces so we can have a big Escalation in Iraq and Bring Home the Victory America Wants, it ain't going to happen. Maybe we can hire Iraqis? Maybe we can run go army ads on insurgent TV?

[MrModerate]

1. Can anyone now doubt that Iraq is a total wreck, doomed to massive . . .

Bloodletting, die-off, and reconstitution as something (or several somethings) else?

Ya know, that's the problem when you try to use a hammer to discipline a bug -- not only do you smash your thumb, wreck the wall, and put dents in the woodwork, but you end up with bug smeared all over your hammer.

Shit, even Bush should have been able to figure that out.