The Iraq News

Embassy to Cost $1 Billion in 2007, Pentagon Likely to Lower Troop Levels in Spring '08, ISG Reunion, Troops to Walk, More

Neocons fancied post-Saddam Iraq as a Democracy petri dish. Iraqi society, they imagined, could be made in the image of our democracy.... or at least the neocons' warped version of our democracy.

How's that working out for you, neocons?

Things are so bad in Iraq that the approval of both Congress and President Bush have hit all time lows. It's so bad that some believe that maybe America should go into the petri dish and the American system of governance should be revised or even reset with an Article V Constitutional Convention.

With that in mind, here's The Iraq News:

• U.S. Military deaths now total 3,547.
• Our massive city-state embassy in Iraq will cost American tax payers over a billion dollars this year. Not very much of that money will be going to Arabic speaking employees.
  
• Looks like the troop levels in Iraq will be reduced in Spring, that way we'll all forget about the war by the time we vote in November.
• The House voted overwhelmingly to bring back the Iraq Study group. No word on whether Rudy Giuliani will be invited this time around. I'm thinking... not likely.
• Veterans often cited in their memoirs endless walking as one of the great horrors of the Vietnam War experience. Now, soldiers in Iraq will get the desert version of that experience. According to Friday's LA Times, the commander of day-to-day military operations, urges Iraqi and American troops to 'get out and walk.' The logic behind the decision appears sound, though clearly this choice is an example of the lesser of two evils.
• Fascinating article from The Independent on Tony Blair's religious beliefs and the resignation of three Catholics during the early stages of the Iraq War. Blair will soon visit the new Pope. He's still the New Pope to me. By the way something, Blair's likely to convert to Catholicism soon.
• You pro-war types plan to support this troop?
• Much work remains on passing a law to distribute oil revenues in Iraq, but some progress was made today as a tentative agreement was reached.

VIDEO: Parliament is running out of chances to bang on Tony Blair and his ridiculous foreign policy.
VIDEO: Based on this trailer, War Made Easy looks like a combination of The Power of Nightmares and Why We Fight, two of the finest documentaries of the Iraq War era.


Crossposted at Ice Station Tango.

TAGS: Tony Blair, Iraq, War Made Easy, Iraq Study Group