Iraqi Prime Minister Speaks and Says Nothing

Of course, what did I expect him to say? This guy is thrust into hosting the maddest tea party since Boston, he can't get a cup of coffee safely in his own capital. Calling what he heads a government insults anyone who understands the meaning of the word. They exist within a fortress, guarded by foreign occupation troops that might not even have the strength to fight their way out of there if shit really hits the fan. Instead of being like the Lebanese government, which is labeled a "failed state" because they couldn't control a single militia (Hizbulla), we don't even have an accurate count of the various militias that the Iraqi colonial regime is not able to control (although Juan Cole reported yesterday that the Mahdi army of al-Sadr is likely to come to the aid of Hizbulla).

Our Secretary of State is taking a page from the Forestry Service (Let it burn) and allowing the Iraeli forces to continue to forge ahead deeper and deeper into resistance that is increasingly stiffer and more ferocious than they anticipated. The guerrilllas of Hizbulla are coming up from out of tunnels and bunkers that they have spent years designing and building for this very day. They are fighting a textbook version of resistance, luring the attackers into the briar patch where they were born and raised.

In Beruit the bombing is having the predicted inverse effect on the population. For many of the target neighborhoods Hizbulla provides the only shelter, food and comfort available, and just like the bombing of London didn't bring down Churchill, and Dresden didn't shorten the war, the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong didn't do much for making life any better for us boonie rats in the South, every bomb dropped by Israel hardens the resistance and solidifies the hatred that will last for generations.

This is only going to get worse folks.

UPDATE (from Juan Cole)

Update: Hizbullah fighters defending Bint Jbeil have killed 14 Israeli soldiers, according to early reports on Wednesday. Hizbullah is ratcheting up its kill ratio with the Israeli military toward 1:1, something no other Arab fighting force has even approached

That is significant because the IDF has relied on its reputation for extreme superiority for a long time. If this success by Hizbullah continues look for all the others in the schoolyard to step up and take a swing at the bully.


Off topic note to my wildly talented and lovely daughter in Ireland:

I know you've been lurking. Unless there is another regular reader in the town of Kilgallin. Leave a comment, or email, or just for a giggle, call your old man. I love you and miss you. I hope to see you soon my darling. Your aunt says that you are a rare talent and are making astonishing progress. This does not surprise me in the slightest. I am very proud to know you. You're a much better daughter than I deserve.

(I can hear you saying "oh for fuck's sake Da!" right now just like I used to say to your Granda, for my sake, try to pick up some of the musical lilt and poetry of the Yeat's country where you're staying. . .)

love,
da