WTF Is It Now?!?

_________________________________________________
Operation Fubar: making progress
US pounds Falluja, fighting continues in Baghdad and Najaf.

An AC-130, a powerful gunship that can unleash a deluge of ordnance, joined 105mm howitzers in a thunderous show of force that rocked Fallujah Tuesday night.

"I think that realistically if you've got some very tough people in a city that are terrorists ... that you have to expect that they're not going to be terribly cooperative. Now, does that mean that something can't be worked out? No," Darth Rumsfeld blithely said to reporters.


"There's sovereignty and then there's authority..." - WH spokes-hamster Scott McClellan (paraphrased).

The situation not being #ucked up enough, unindicted Iran-Contra criminal John 'human rights' Negroponte, the Bushies' new ambassador to Iraq, suggested that Iraq's "caretaker government" would only be a figurehead, with the US remaining in control of security forces, and the new government not having any authority to pass laws. What idiots. You can imagine how well that went over.

Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, a Sunni Arab on the Governing Council, said the prospect of the United States retaining some sovereignty is "not acceptable, this is totally rejected."

If the Americans do not respect agreements on giving complete sovereignty, "then the Iraqi people know what route to take," he said.

What a complete and utter #uckup.

Update: There was a new US bombardment of Falluja this morning.


Iraq situation is worse than any US news outlet will say
Democrats.com reports: Jamie Wilson, writing in the Guardian, lays out the whole sorry picture of what it really happening in Iraq - as opposed to the US media version -- which focuses on a battle here, a press statement there, a "patriotic human interest story" there.

A few facts: electricity, water, and sewage are still down in many areas, with summer's heat coming rapidly on; 25% of all contractors have left the country, while 75% are holed up at bases; General Electric and Siemens have temporarily abandoned work on Iraq's vital Daura power plant - which is still unrestored. Meanwhile, the new bombings ordered by Bush are creating NEW reconstruction needs, and more chaos, leading to more reconstruction delays. Says Wilson: "Publicly, the British and US governments are trying to play down the extent of the problems."



115 so far for this month alone.




Helen Thomas gets all fallujah on Scott McClellan's ass
Ms Thomas: Why is Fallujah and Najaf under siege? Why are they - and is the President willing to see them go into a Waco or Guernica?

Scott: I'm sorry, where are you getting that from, Helen?

Ms Thomas: That if they are under siege, and we decide to go in, and there is that kind of resistance, there will be tremendous bloodshed.

Scott: Helen, that is a highly speculative characterization that you are making there.

Ms Thomas: Well, we do have them under siege, both towns, don't we?

Scott: And I would not describe it that way. First of all, we have been working very closely with Iraqi officials in those areas to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation. The coalition has been working to partner with Iraqi security forces to improve the security situation. There are a lot of developments going on, on the ground. Certainly, if coalition forces are fired upon, namely our Marines, in the case of Fallujah, they will defend themselves. Now there are some thugs and terrorists that continue to exist in areas of Fallujah.

Ms Thomas: -- maybe they're just Iraqis.

Scott: Helen, all you have to have to do is look at the types of attacks that they carried out on innocent Americans recently to know that these are thugs and terrorists. They have no regard for human life.

Ms Thomas: Are we doing the same thing?

Scott: We will not let them prevail. However, as I said, we are working to improve the security situation there. We're working with Iraqi leaders. You're seeing a partnering with Iraqi security forces to begin patrols in Fallujah and to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation. They've been working with civilian leaders there. But there is a difference between civilian leaders and thugs and terrorists who seek to derail the transition to democracy for the Iraqi people. And they have no place in Iraq.

Ms Thomas: Maybe they're defending their own country against an occupation.