We turn the page in the calendar but the news in
Iraq remains violent:
A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing 12 Iraqis -- all but one of them National Guards -- in another strike against Iraqis cooperating with American forces, the U.S. military said. Eleven other Iraqi National Guards were wounded in the blast near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad in the so-called Sunni Triangle, the scene of frequent assaults on U.S. and Iraqi security forces.
The U.S. military provides more canned responses and no solutions:
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Neal E. O'Brien said ``Those responsible for suicide attacks are seeking to halt Iraq's progress on the path to democracy.''
Thank you Major, and the United States will do what exactly to provide security?
"Killing the Mercenary Dogs"
The attack came a day after Al-Qaida's arm in Iraq issued a video showing militants executing five Iraqi security officers in the street, the latest move in their campaign to intimidate Iraqis and target those who collaborate with U.S.-led forces. A statement posted Saturday on an Islamist Web site along with the video denounced the officers as ``American dogs'' and threatened other Iraqis with the same fate if they join security forces.
The video and statement were issued by al-Qaida in Iraq, the group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Separate photos of the executions indicated they occurred in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Dec. 26. In the footage, the five prisoners, who are wearing civilian clothes, can be seen sitting on the ground with their hands bound behind their backs. A banner emblazoned "al-Qaida in Iraq" hangs in the background. One of five masked gunmen behind the doomed men reads a statement describing them as a ``bunch of apostates'' who came to Ramadi to support ``the apostate Allawi government and help the unjust American enemy.''
``As usual, jihadists have no mercy when it comes to such infidel souls,'' he says. The video then shows the men being shot in the back. After they fall to the ground, the gunmen kick them, apparently to see if any survived, then pump more bullets into them. Throughout the execution, people and cars can be seen passing by, and some even stop to watch. One of the masked shooters leaves a paper, apparently a statement, on the back of one body.
In a separate statement posted on the Web Saturday, al-Zarqawi's group also claims responsibility for a number of attacks targeting security forces around Iraq earlier in the week. In one of the bloodiest days in recent months, militants killed some 20 policemen on Tuesday in attacks in various Iraqi provinces.
The group also said it was behind an attack on an American post in Samarra the same day. The U.S. military had said three militants were killed in that operation, but al-Qaida claimed that two were only injured. The statement said the attacks were part of a larger operation called "Killing the Mercenary Dogs."
Emphasis supplied.
The War on Terror had nothing to do with Iraq BEFORE the Iraq Debacle -- it does now.
How is Washington reacting to the growing violence in Iraq? I'll talk about Frank Rich's take on the flip.
We are at war we were told during the election campaign. Does Washington know?
Frank Rich thinks they don't:
On the fourth day 'til Christmas, the day that news of the slaughter at the mess tent in Mosul slammed into the evening news, CBS had scheduled a special treat. That evening brought the annual broadcast of "The Kennedy Center Honors," the carefree variety show in which Washington's top dogs mingle with visitors from that mysterious land known as the Arts and do a passing (if fashion-challenged) imitation of revelers at the Oscars. . . . The honors had actually been staged and taped earlier in the month, on Dec. 5. That day the morning newspapers told of more deadly strikes by suicide bombers in Mosul and Baghdad, killing at least 26 Iraqi security officers, including 8 in a police station near the capital's protected Green Zone. There were also reports of at least four American casualties in other firefights.
But if anyone at the Kennedy Center so much as acknowledged this reality unfolding beyond the opera house, it was not to be found in the show presented on television. The only wars evoked were those scored by another honoree, John Williams, whose soundtrack music for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Star Wars" was merrily belted out by a military band. (Our delicate sensibilities were spared the sight of an actual "Private Ryan" battle scene, however, lest the broadcast risk being shut down for "indecency.") The razzle-dazzle Hollywood martial music, the what-me-worry Washington establishment, the glow of money and red plush: everything about the tableau reeked of the disconnect between the war in Iraq and the comfort of all of us at home, starting with those in government who had conceived, planned, rubber-stamped and managed our excellent adventure in spreading democracy.
But the American people are beginning to get it:
Ordinary people beyond Washington, red and blue Americans alike, are feeling that disconnect more and more. On the same day that CBS broadcast the Kennedy Center special, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 70 percent of Americans believed that any gains in Iraq had come at the cost of "unacceptable" losses in casualties and that 56 percent believed the war wasn't "worth fighting" - up 8 percent since the summer. In other words, most Americans believe that our troops are dying for no good reason, even as a similar majority (58 percent) believes, contradictorily enough, that we should keep them in Iraq.
Let's hope Democrats can be as poll driven NOW on Iraq as they have been for the past 2 1/2 years. We must demand answers - (1) What the hell is the BushCo plan for Iraq? (2) What the hell is BushCo doing in the War on Terror? (3) What the hell is BushCo doing nominating the legal architect for torture for Attorney General? (4) What the hell is going on in Washington?