BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The main Sunni Arab political bloc quit the Iraqi cabinet on Wednesday, plunging the government into crisis on a day when suicide bombers killed more than 70 people with massive strikes in the capital.
…White House spokesman Tony Snow said after the call:
“The president emphasized that the Iraqi people and the American people need to see action, not just words … on the political front,” Snow told reporters in Washington.
Dear Iraq,
These things are never easy, but… but this whole relationship isn’t working out.
I mean, what is WRONG with you people? What is so hard about setting up your region’s first-ever modern democracy involving three distinct ethno-religious groups in the midst of a military occupation and a civil war? This isn’t rocket science, Iraqis! We know this because we’ve already blown up your country because of its rocket science, and this ain’t it.
Actually, it turned out you didn’t have rocket science. My point remains: This is easier than that.
Or, it should be. Sounds like it would be. We here in America set up our Democracy after we were done winning our war, and we had basically one ethnic group (unless you count those Johnstons from Providence. There was something a little off about that family…). And no foreigners were fighting their ongoing war on terror in the middle of our biggest cities. So… it’s a little different, granted. But if you founding fathers don’t get off your asses and start founding PRONTO, there are going to be consequences. Consequences and repercussions!
Let me spell it out for you all, Sunnites and Shinnis and Kurtis alike: We are fixin’ to blame you for this. It’s in all of our best interests over here.
Bush and his gang know that unless there’s a miracle, you guys aren’t going to get your shit together in the foreseeable future. So then the Republicans have to decide - do we stay forever as a lasting beacon of our party’s incompetence, or do we cut and run while claiming victory over “al Qaeda,” and pretend that anything else is your fault?
Does “Mission Accomplished” ring a bell?
For the Democrats, blaming you is an even easier choice - rather than seem like anti-war wussies, this crop of Democrats can choose to say, “Love the war or hate it, our boys did a great job and we gave those guys a country. Now it’s up to them to run it.” And once again, you either start churning out al Jeffersons and bin Adamses stat or you’ve got only yourselves to blame. Or at least we’ve got only yourselves to blame. Which is just as important.
I would continue with an analysis of what you should be doing, but like the rest of my country, I’m losing interest. I don’t know what I’ll be discussing at dinner tonight, but I’ll tell you right now that Lindsay Lohan’s got way better odds than you do. I mean, no offense, but you are several drunken rampages, a few crappy movies and one Brazilian wax job less interesting than Lohan. And who’s fault is that?
Don’t answer that, please. I know how that whining of yours goes: “Difficult situation.” “Constant violence.” “Ethnic strife.” “You and the terrorists keep blowing stuff up.” “What in Allah’s name is a Brazilian wax?” Yeah yeah yeah. We’ve heard it. Now step up and produce a “Bad News Bears”-type third act miracle or we’re done, get it? We’re done.
Okay, I’m gonna go see what else is on.
Love,
America





32 comments
tim
August 1, 2007 at 2:37 pm
1I agree, Adam. According to NPR today, Baghdadis still only get 1 hour of electricity per day. What else have they got to do all day but solve all of their problems? C’mon guys, get cracking!
sharon
August 1, 2007 at 3:27 pm
2I thought the Iraqi government was on vacation? Who are these guys?
David
August 1, 2007 at 4:27 pm
3It’s Iraq’s fault she was raped. If she hadn’t had such large petro-tits, Big Dick would never have been driven to tap her resources. And who the hell does she think she is, not getting her act together and passing the US-crafted oil laws? Ungrateful bitch!
Dorothy (LFBGAL)
August 1, 2007 at 5:07 pm
4Sunnites and Shinnis and Kurtis, Oh my…..
Kjell Mikkelson
August 1, 2007 at 5:40 pm
5It’s Pat, Jeg håper det du er “okay” og ikke trappetrinn vann inne Minnehaha Creek.
Dale
August 1, 2007 at 6:24 pm
6Without a paddle, Kjell?
I suspect another reason instituting American democracy seemed ¨easier¨ is that it was possible in the 18th century to exterminate an entire race of people and employ another race as slave labor without international hue and cry. Ethics makes revolutions a whole lot harder.
lady_le
August 1, 2007 at 9:09 pm
7Yes, It’s Pat and any other fellow Minnesotan felbernauts - do check in. Scary stuff.
becca (and brian)
August 1, 2007 at 10:15 pm
8It’s Pat!, Rebecca and other TC Fan’appers. –
It’s beyond unsettling to be watching the news/surfing the web and see part of my former daily commute in the river. Please let us know you and your friends and family are all ok.
B (and b)
One of my co-workers is in the Trib story. Her car went in the water and she was able to get out and swim safely to shore. Unreal.
Fran
August 2, 2007 at 7:13 am
9I was, once upon a time, part of a “traditional” marriage to a very nice man in Minneapolis, and I had to get in touch with him once I heard about this. Just because we’re divorced and I now bat for the other team doesn’t mean love and concern vanish. Fortunately he and all his family and friends are fine, but it was terrifying for me, moreso for them. I’m relieved that they’re okay, but I’m devastated for those who weren’t so fortunate. Minneapolis is a fine city, and this is just beyond awful.
David
August 2, 2007 at 8:11 am
10First and foremost, of course, is concern for anyone on that bridge when it collapsed. Second is that as soon as I heard about it, my first reaction was that this probably should not have been a surprise. Turns out this bridge was judged to be structurally inadequate (or whatever term they actually used) a couple of years ago. My next question: Why in God’s name was an interstate bridge structurally inadequate? And who decided to allow it to continue to be used while repairs were (finally) underway? We know how to build bridges, and there is never, ever any excuse besides an earthquake or getting hit by a freighter for a bridge to collapse unless it is really old, built before we knew what we were doing. Every one of those deaths is ultimately the consequence of some sort of criminal negligence on somebody’s part.
Laura Bush is going to meet with the families of victims? We are such a pr nation. How about we send a team of investigators to determine what, who, when, why, and how, and then re-establish the principle of accountability in government? Anybody know if anyone was ever held accountable for the collapse of the I-95 bridge in Connecticut after nearby residents reported the changes in the sounds of traffic crossing the bridge, which turned out to be because of loose bolts?
David
August 2, 2007 at 8:43 am
11Regarding the bridge collapse:
http://www.leanleft.com/archives/2007/08/02/6220/
It's Pat!
August 2, 2007 at 1:13 pm
12Sorry for not responding yesterday. I was pretty glued to the TV all night. I got calls from all over the country last night making sure I was ok, which was sweet.
This of course is tragic, and once again there were many instances of people running to help pull people out of the water, off the wreckage, etc. People can be so cool.
David, I have also seen lots about the infrastructure of bridges, etc throughout the US (and it is all aging rapidly). I have read that the design for this particular bridge would never be used again, because if one part crashes, it pulls the rest with it. That’s what happened, according to witnesses - the middle dropped, and the ends followed.
Very bad.
Kjell, the bridge across the Minnehaha is too small. Thanks for asking.
Uffda!
It's Pat!
August 2, 2007 at 1:41 pm
13And thank you, all of my good friends, for thinking about me and the rest of us in Minnesota. That really is thoughtful and caring.
Murray
August 2, 2007 at 2:08 pm
14You would think that by now W would be the first person on site at a disaster. Not that HE would have learn his lesson, but that his handlers would have learned theirs.
Oh well, too busy running out the clock with out getting impeached or run out of town on a rail. W has his priorities.
hedera
August 2, 2007 at 3:41 pm
15As a resident of an area where a similarly critical bridge fell down eighteen years ago in an earthquake (yeah, Loma Prieta was 1989), and was subsequently (after patching back to functionality) judged seismically unfit to survive another earthquake of that magnitude, and where the replacement bridge has STILL not come up (maybe in 3-5 more years the way they’re pulling stuff together; it took the local politicians 10 years just to agree on a design) - I’m appalled but not surprised that a bridge that was judged structurally unfit a mere 4-5 years ago was only now being repaired.
Allow me to extend my sincere sympathies to the residents of Minneapolis, and my reassurances that they aren’t the only ones whose infrastructure is falling apart because of deferred maintenance (translation: we’re too cheap to spend the money on repairs). I sincerely hope the death toll won’t go much higher than it is now but we’ll have to see.
At that, the San Francisco Bay Area has it better than Minneapolis; you can, with some time and effort, drive around the Bay. I don’t believe you can drive around the Mississippi River…
Jack Back...
August 2, 2007 at 3:48 pm
16Our leaders are much too stupid and greedy to be running the United States of America. Once Saddam was captured, the Million Pound Shithammer of Religious Futility was locked, loaded & ready for action. These people have been CUTTING EACH OTHER’S HEADS OFF!!! since Mohammad died in 632. And now our young American soldiers are stuck right in the middle of the orgy. You know, in the end, the real Axis of Evil will be proven to be Bush and Cheney.
becca (and brian)
August 2, 2007 at 3:53 pm
17hedera-
Actually, I believe the headwaters are up in northern MN somewhere so technically you could…..
Kjell Mikkelson
August 2, 2007 at 3:56 pm
18Uffda du selv , It’s Pat! Jeg er glade du er pengeskap!
Steve
August 2, 2007 at 4:13 pm
19Am I the only one who finds it passing strange that we can dump billions into the sands of Iraq in a pointless “cause” but can’t seem to come up with the wherewithal to maintain our infrastructure in such a way that it doesn’t fall apart around our very ears?
I saw one figure in the WaPo that estimates it would cost $188 billion dollars to bring our bridges up to snuff and would take “at least a generation”. How long is that in “Iraq years”?
cooper
August 2, 2007 at 4:19 pm
20Actually hedera, you can drive around the Mississippi River from Minneapolis - just go north and around Lake Itasca (VerITAS CAput - “true head” of the Mississippi). My family and I walked across the Mississippi River where it comes out of the lake. There it’s 6 inches deep and only about 20 feet wide; it does get bigger as you go downstream.
sharon
August 2, 2007 at 4:38 pm
21I keep waiting for the part where W and his thugs announce the privatization of all bridges, tunnels, and interstate highways. Oh. Wait. The feds actually use those highways, don’t they? Hmm, what a dilemma. Principles? Or politics? Which shall it be today?
Boomer
August 2, 2007 at 4:48 pm
22Steve, how long is “at least a generation” in “Iraq years”? Not so long, really.
cooper
August 2, 2007 at 5:12 pm
23Oops, sorry becca. You beat me to the Mississippi River anecdote. That one’s yours.
Maximum Bob
August 2, 2007 at 5:32 pm
24Veritas kaput? Sideman for Notary Sojak?
hedera
August 2, 2007 at 8:16 pm
25You learn something every day. I didn’t realize the Mississippi headwaters were so close to Minneapolis.
As for Iraq - you know, the worst thing about it is that I’m tired of repeating myself. I’ve said it all (references to relevant blog posts available on request), and nothing has changed, and nobody (except my 4 readers, thank you all kindly) is listening to me. Sometimes you just have to watch things crash, because nobody believes that they will.
Anonymous David
August 2, 2007 at 9:05 pm
26Slight correction by one of your 4 readers, hedera: make it most times you just have to watch things crash, because too many people apparently need to believe they won’t, or at least to hope they won’t. Maybe what we have is faith-based infrastructure maintenance. I think I read the inspectors did a laying on of the hands, or something like that (something about inspecting at arm’s length). Would that it were just funny, not tragic.
Just Jay
August 2, 2007 at 9:18 pm
27Wonder if this will be the catalyst that finally gets those of us in the upper left hand corner off our duffs to do something about the Alaskan Way Viaduct, our very own disaster in the making.
Best wishes to you Minnesotans out there. Minneapolis is one of my favorite places.
Jay
SeattleDan
August 2, 2007 at 10:09 pm
28Echoing JJ’s comments. I wont drive on the Alaska Way Viaduct. haven’t in years. It’s dangerous. Our inside source tells us that is well-monitored, and I believe her. But I’m still not gonna go on it.
Rebecca
August 3, 2007 at 4:51 am
29Checkin’ in, I guess. Thanks for all the thoughts and well wishes and such. It really does mean a lot.
As for the bridge, I keep hearing conflicting things, but apparently it was structurally deficient, or something similar. But there’s a great statistic that I can’t find again about how many bridges in the U.S. are “structurally deficient” and how many are “functionally obsolete.” And by “great statistic,” I mean “statistic that frightens me quite a bit.”
YLlama
August 3, 2007 at 9:57 am
30“You and the terrorists keep blowing stuff up.”
You know what? We can help. We’ll cut the blowing stuff up rate in half by pulling out. Our military will completely stop blowing stuff up. How does that sound?
Zee Man
August 3, 2007 at 5:20 pm
31After seeing the surveillance tape of the bridge falling with about 100 cars following it down, I was stuck by this thought - What truly safe cars the Japanese are building for us here in the USA. The vast majority of the cars that fell had their driver and passengers survive. And not just survive, but unbuckle the shoulder harness, crawl out the window and walk away. Absolutely amazing! The upside of a truly catastrophic event.
Sabrina
August 5, 2007 at 10:08 am
32Actually, the Brazilian bikini wax originated with a Muslim wedding tradition, so I’m sure those Iraqis are familiar with it, but perhaps not by that name..