More Big News You Haven't Seen

The news – Mulshine described it in his column as a “blockbuster story,” which also was my reaction – was covered by most of the on-line news outfits. As I recall, I first saw it in a report by The Independent, from Britain, distributed by one of our own Internet news services. Do you know the news I'm talking about here? Khalizad's cable was sent to State June 6. It was leaked to the press, presumably by someone within the State Department, somewhere around June 18 or 19. The Independent story I saw was dated June 20. In that memo, the ambassador lays waste to the claims of "progress" still being made by the Pentagon and, especially, by the twisted trio of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld in their fund-raising appearances before loyalty-screened crowds of very rich people around the country. The Iraqi government we engineered is on its way to being self-sustaining, the Bush bunch says. It is approaching the point at which it can keep its citizens safe, they claim. Wrong, said Khalilzad in the message not meant for our eyes: In fact, Islamic militancy is increasing apace. Even the massively fortified Green Zone in Baghdad is less and less safe; Iraqi guards around the perimeter can no longer be trusted. The embassy's Iraqi staff members are terrified, won't let even family members know where they work. They're also are fighting among themselves, divided by religious sect. Women throughout the country are ever more fearful; they are being told to stop driving cars, to cover their faces, which they've never had to do before, to stop using cell phones. Men now find it dangerous to wear jeans or shorts. Even children can't play outside wearing shorts. Of course, it's become dangerous for them to play outside anyway. With temperatures running at 115 degrees Farenheit, most Iraqis get no more than one hour of electricity for every six hours without. Some areas of Baghdad haven't had any power in more than a month. And, said the ambassador, the government we pushed into place with such fanfare in our press, hardly exists in fact. All real power is in the hands of militias and local strongmen. Kidnappings for political, religious and merely profit reasons continue to increase. People are being forced from their homes by others who want them; those evicted have no place to go. There is more, all put down on paper and sent to our State Department by our ambassador, but you get the idea. Iraq is in chaos, and it's getting worse, not better. http://tinyurl.com/m22e5

Note: http://tinyurl.com/m22e5