Reality. It's a beautiful thing.

So much for the political acumen of John Bolton. In a radio interview this week he declares that World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz is far from certain to get the sack.

Yesterday Wolfowitz got the sack. (Or rather, he negotiated a face-saving exit deal which sees him resign without further struggle)

All together now: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhh.

Giving up on Iraq

Legendary Iraqi blogger Riverbend has finally decided that it's time to leave the country.

Let this serve as an epitaph for the insane dreams of the neocons:

I always hear the Iraqi pro-war crowd interviewed on television from foreign capitals (they can only appear on television from the safety of foreign capitals because I defy anyone to be publicly pro-war in Iraq). They refuse to believe that their religiously inclined, sectarian political parties fueled this whole Sunni/Shia conflict. They refuse to acknowledge that this situation is a direct result of the war and occupation. They go on and on about Iraq's history and how Sunnis and Shia were always in conflict and I hate that. I hate that a handful of expats who haven't been to the country in decades pretend to know more about it than people actually living there.

I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night.

Oh, but the U.S. captured an Iraqi Al-Qaeda bigwig today, so it was all worth it.

P.S.: The al-Qaida big-wig was captured last year.

P.P.S.: Charles mentions Egyptian blogger 'Sandmonkey' quitting, but not Riverbend leaving Iraq. Any idea why?

P.P.P.S: That was a rhetorical question.

Charles vs. Condi

Quoth Charles:

The latest Big Lie universally promoted by the mainstream wire services is that Palestinian Authority chairman/president/etc. Mahmoud Abbas is in some sense a “moderate.” (The word “secular” is also used often.)

[...]

And based on this ridiculous mythical “moderation,” we’re going to reward Abbas and his thuggish terrorist government with 86 million dollars in military aid.

[Source: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23988]

Quoth Condoleezza Rice:

"I think anything that is an American plan is bound to fail," she said ahead of her visit [to the Middle East].

"The United States is not going to succeed in this alone. This [peace plan] has to have an Arab voice - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia.

"It certainly has to have the voice of the reasonable factions among the Palestinians, like Abu Mazen [Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas]. And it has to have an Israeli voice."

Granted, Miss Rice didn't exactly refer to Abu Mazen as a "moderate," but where are the spluttering, epithet-laden expressions of outrage in JammieLand over her statement that his Fatah faction is "reasonable"?

Poor Charles seems to be caught in a bind of his own devising, since just a short while ago he was bashing Senator Barbara Boxer for having mentioned the fact that the childless Miss Rice has no children. Any criticism of Miss Rice at this stage would undoubtedly be construed by the primitive, binary lizard mind as an endorsement of Mrs. Boxer's remarks.