Violence in Iraq
Yankeedoodle is now sharing his duties at Today in Iraq with "Matt". Between them, they make a truly stellar team and they've made TII into even more of a must-read than it already was.
Today, Matt has posted the daily compilation of news there. One of the items is his own quick Google-led survey of the security situation in each of Iraq's 18 provinces.
His conclusion? That,
- out of eighteen provinces only six can be considered even relatively stable and at least a couple of those suffered major violence less than a year ago. Therefore it is Mr. Bush who is hallucinating, not me.
I've been thinking of doing a post here on the relationship between the violence and the election preparations in Iraq. I guess all the more reason now to do it. But it may have to wait till tomorrow.
Anxious to see how you address this.
Yes, it is the real question: how to pull off elections in an environment where, obviously, some groups do not want there to be either majority rule or minority rights. They whip up all kinds of nationalist and religious cover for their totalitarian urge, then add terror.
Consider:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2004/12/19/international/middleeast/19iraqlarge.jpg
(Photo of insurgents murdering election workers. I understand that Saddam began his career precisely as a Baathist brownshirt thug like these hoodlums.)