If there was ever any doubt that things have gone to shit in Iraq, none should now remain.
Despite god knows what level of security surrounded Deputy Sec. of Defense and key architect of Bush's War Paul Wolfowitz, guerillas were able to stage a daring and
massive rocket barrage on the hotel he was staying.
Anti-American guerrillas attacked the Baghdad hotel where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying on Sunday with a barrage of rockets, but the No. 2 Pentagon official survived the blasts unharmed, U.S. officials said.
"We have unconfirmed reports of 15 wounded," said a military official. There are no reports of deaths. At least two wounded people were carried out of the hotel on stretchers, said a Reuters journalist at the Rashid Hotel, where the attack occurred at about 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. EDT Saturday).
Wolfowitz was unharmed and led away by security forces, according to a U.S. defense official at the scene. Witnesses said Wolfowitz, a major force behind the Iraq (news - web sites) war, looked composed.
Wolfowitz and senior aides were staying on the 12th floor when the rockets slammed into the hotel several floors below.
Members of his party, who had been dressing ahead of a breakfast meeting on electricity, calmly descended a stairwell past thickening smoke and blood stains.
The guerillas were sending a message -- "we can strike at will, whenever we want, and whatever target we choose." And the US is powerless. Not just powerless to restore order and consolidate its hold on the country, but powerless to even protect its highest ranking government officials.
Emboldened guerillas also
downed a U.S. helicopter within sight of its home base. Three more US soldiers were wounded in a mortar attack in Bahgdad. Three others were killed Friday. Bush's War has now cost us 347 US dead and over $150 billion.
Meanwhile, deplorable conditions for injured soldiers at Ft. Stewart have finally
gotten the attention of the Army's top civilian.
After touring barracks that prompted complaints about miserable living conditions for U.S. troops, the acting secretary of the Army vowed to make improvements and allocate more money to upgrade the living quarters.
The sudden attention on the soldiers' plight was prompted by media coverage. These people have to be shamed into doing the right thing for our men and women in uniform.