Iraq: Situation FUBAR

Via the Defeatists, we discover what everyone else already knows and Bush has yet to figure out: Iraq is an utter disaster. The US media is too busy covering the World Series, so it's up to the BBC to fill us in on Bush's video conference with the generals over in Iraq. No plans for withdrawal. Just a change in tactics for handling the insurgents.

It has been a lousy Ramadan for the Iraqis and it's going to be a lousy Eid. Won't someone have the guts to laugh in Cheney's face next time he tries to paint a rosy picture of what's going on over there?

To wit: not only are insurgents killing kids who only want to celebrate the holidays, but the Iraqi police can't handle them:

[T]he Iraqi president's security adviser said Iraqi forces trying to improve security in Baghdad were under-funded, badly trained and poorly equipped.

Wafiq al-Samarra'i said that sometimes the insurgents and death squads had better weapons than the security forces trying to combat them.

The comments come a day after the US military said there had been a "disheartening" 22% rise in attacks in Baghdad this month, despite a two-month-old security operation.

Launched in June, Operation Together Forward is a joint US and Iraqi security drive in which thousands of extra troops have been deployed in Baghdad.

On Wednesday, Mr Bush said the escalation of violence in Iraq "could be" comparable to the 1968 Tet Offensive against US troops, which helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

Oopsie.

No wonder Sixties protest anthems are making a comeback.

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