The Iraqi people have lots of fun in store now that the war seems to be drawing to a close and we're trying to decide on the new government.

After reading this article, I discovered that CNN has an entire section devoted to completely worthless 'news' stories. Good to see that the "Most Trusted Name in News" always keeps busy.

So here's an article along the lines of one of my rants from yesterday. What's going to happen with the weapons search? What are we going to find? And if it doesn't live up to the Bush Administration's hype, will the issue just be buried?

It looks like things are already going that way, at least here in The US. People are already forgetting the reason this (supposedly) started - to disarm Saddam.

One expert (what makes someone an expert, anyway? they never seem to know shit) says that people should start coming forward "in the next five days" to help uncover any WMD. So let's draw the line in the sand now: if, within 5 days, by Tuesday the 15th of April, if no one comes forward in Iraq to help us find weapons, this guy is full of shit.

Speaking of being full of shit, I just saw for the first time that the recent "big find" was nothing more than agricultural supplies. Honestly, it seems like my fear is already coming true - I have seen next to nothing on the WMD search as of late, and it took until now for me to find out about the most recent "find".

More on how we've pissed off our allies.

Some more on the post-war plans for Iraq.

I think this may be the first time I've see the word "shit" used in a mainstream media publication. Also, some commentary on the war and media.

A brief roundup on the "fall" of Baghdad.

Speaking of the "fall", is that really the right word to describe it. I don't know. It seemed really odd to keep hearing this yesterday, because it seemed like progress was definitely being made, but there didn't seem to be a quantum leap. The people taking to the streets was definitely significant. Honestly, I think the press saw the statue falling, so they had to equate that with the fall of the regime just for good copy.

The regime is on its last legs, but it hasn't fallen yet. Today really seemed like the "morning after"; no stories of jubilation in the streets, reports of more and more fighting in the city, and a lack of information as to the status of the Iraqi leadership. Baghdad will fall and the regime will fall, but I don't know if this is it. I could be wrong.

If troops have to go to such lengths to not display the American flag, doesn't that indicate something is kinda fucked up? Like we're trying real hard to convince people of something that isn't true? Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

The fact of the matter is, we are conquerors, at least at this point. We are in the process of destroying the current regime, and will shortly be installing an interim authority of our choosing. Well, "our choosing" is somewhat of a misnomer, as the government can't even agree on who should be in charge, but it will be an American regime that's put in place.

Now, whether or not we remain conquerors is the real issue.

This is just infuriating.

A little reality check on that stupid statue.

One thing I think people need to keep in mind is that lots and lots of people will be glad that Saddam is gone - who wouldn't. But that doesn't necessarily mean they want us there, and they certainly won't want us running the show for long.

A couple of side notes from that article. First is the fact that "The sheikh had been given the job after a two-hour interview". Two fucking hours to get the job of running city? Look, I know that they have to be getting shit done, but only two hours? I went through about four hours of interviewing on Monday, and even if I get the job, I'm not going to be in charge of a whole fucking city. The way I look at it, I should be in charge of two cities by British employment standards.

Just to keep the mood light, Rummy is threatening Syria again. That's just fucking great. This guy is on the verge of cumming in his pants just for the opportunity to kill some more people and continue towards his goal of reshaping the world in America's image.

Okay, wait, I fucked up. Someone else had Fox news on one day, so I ended up seeing like 3 seconds worth. My fucking point still stands.

This is a good rundown as to why I've literally (and I mean literally) watched 0 seconds of Fox war coverage. The link comes courtesy of michaelmoore.com.

Oh yeah, and if the North Koreans don't kill us, let's not forget that SARS just might. I don't really care for this term "super-spreader". On one hand, it makes the rest of us look like slackers. It's like, "Whoa, these people are super-spreaders. I am not doing enough with my time." Seriously, though, do they need to come up with titles like that? It's as if they're blaming people like this poor woman for getting sick. I'm real sure she did this on purpose, so let's ostracize her.

On a side note, at the end of that article, there's a quote from a deliveryman. Deliveryman? What the fuck is that about? Is this the best interviewee that they could find?

This is a really good article. Bush doesn't get it - that pretty much sums things up.

Oh, and if you think I'm going soft because I said the war's going well this morning, don't worry. I'm still plenty pissed, and plenty worried. Who knows what the final body count will be. Who knows the untold horrors this war has imposed upon the Iraqi people, even with Saddam gone. Who knows how well we'll pull off the military occupation of Iraq. And who knows how others around the globe will retaliate against us for what we've done. The problem is, by the time we do know the answers to a lot of these questions, Bush and his cronies may be long gone, and we'll have difficulty holding them accountable.

Today's new Get Your War On helps sum up a lot of the feelings I have about recent events that I have (so far) failed to complain about in open form.

Just fucking great.

Fuck Orrin Hatch. Fuck him in the asshole with a big rubber dick.

Gee, I wonder what video games these kids have been playing? Also, we once again see that mental illness is not taken seriously or handled properly in this country.

This points out exactly why the USA-PATRIOT act is evil - it leaves open way too many avenues for abuse.

Is anybody else sick and tired of that goddamn statue yet? Jesus, I understand the fucking symbolism, okay? I get it, now go take a picture of something else.

The 'search for weapons' issue, of course, hasn't been abandoned yet.

You know, I hate the cliche 'slippery slope', but it's pretty relevant nowadays. Like I said several days ago, I've always been afraid that Iraq was just the starting point, and we would progress beyond Iraq to reshape the middle east in our image, one way or another. Things started to look that way when Donny threatened both Iraq and Syria in the same fucking day. At this point, I think the Administration's attitude really is "just give me a reason...". As this editorial points out, the Administration can't wait to go after nations like Syria, and the success in Iraq may be a useful selling point for when they eventually go do it.

Who knew?

How goes the war? Well - real well. Which is good, of course. We're finally seeing the dancing in the streets that we were promised. Actually, they're going beyond dancing, to just fucking looting. All of a sudden, we have a middle eastern version of LA.

If this is the beginning of freedom for the Iraqi people, that's neat. Yes, even though I have been against this war from the beginning, at no point can you say that I said freeing the Iraqis was a bad thing. The problem that I have always had with calling it "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is that the name was nothing more than bullshit marketing.

Remember how the "Axis of Evil" was labelled as a group of rogue terrorist states that were threatening America? Did you notice how resolution 1441 was passed in hopes of disarming Saddam? Did you notice how we sent in weapons inspectors? The so-callled Axis wasn't evil because its nations harshly opressed its people. Resolution 1441 didn't demand that Saddam cease his human rights violations. And we didn't send in inspectors to look for torture chambers, militias who threatened families, or the crushing of dissent.

Never, at any point in time, has the Administration given a flying fuck about the Iraqi people. The same goes for most pro-war Americans. Before the concept of "freeing" Iraq came about, it was nothing but weapons this, terrorists that. It was all about protecting us.

Of course, blatant self interest doesn't sell well. Placing yourself on a pedestal, and proclaiming yourself a great liberator? That's good stuff!

Again, freedom for the Iraqi citizens will be great, if it really materializes. What fucking infuriates me is that people like Bush and Rumsfeld are going to be hailed as heroes. This idea will really be rammed down our throats if they find few, or no, weapons of mass destruction. Remember those? One of the real reasons we're over there? You aren't hearing as much about those - except for the occasional white powder that turns out to be simple explosives. Yes, there's still more searching to do, and we're still waiting on results from the potential find a few days ago. I promise you, though, if they don't find anything, the weapons search will be buried, and the freedom issue will be hyped more than The Blair Witch Project.

Here's why I'm so up in arms about this. Yes, it's obvious that I hate the Administration, and I'm going to try find something wrong with them no matter what. I admit that, but at this point, I don't feel unjustified.

There's the quote "if the ends are noble, than the means can be justified." I've been thinking a lot about that one today, telling myself "Ok, sure, maybe these guys are greedy, self-serving fucks, but if something good comes from it, namely freedom for Iraq, does that make it OK in the end?" In the end, you know what I say? Fuck that. Motives matter. Yeah, we'll give them some points for the liberation deal, but that doesn't change the fact that they have put American lives on the line based purely out of self interest. That doesn't change how we have alienated the rest of the fucking world. That doesn't change how we're all but ignoring real threats like North Korea. That doesn't change how we are creating more and more terrorists with our actions. And that certainly doesn't change the fact that we have serious issues at home that aren't being addressed.

Nothing in life irks me more than people who get credit for something they don't deserve. I hate people feeling good about themselves when they shouldn't. It's completely unjust, especially when there are plenty of people out there who do deserve to feel good, but don't. You know who the ultimate examples of this are for me? Boy bands. Low grade, untalented, inarticulate fucking kids who have (or had) the love and adoration of millions of fans. No, I'm not bitter because they have tons of money and poontang (well, except for the poon, because they're all gay). No, I'm bitter because they don't fucking deserve it.

So that's what this administration is to me - the Backstreet Boys. They never cared about liberation - they just knew it would be a positive side effect, so they exploited that fact to justify their own selfish intentions. And you know what? It's probably going to pay off for them.

Fresh off angering the entire world with pre-war shenanigans, we're already starting to piss everyone off for the post-war party... even though the war isn't over yet.