From the painful juxtaposition file

Two stories on Iraq in the this morning's Washington Post (one on the cover and one deeper in the main section) jump out for their mixed messages. One, "Iraqi Leaders Pressing for Power," covers the desire of the Iraqi governing coalition, comprosed mainly of those friendly to the US, for a quicker US pullout.* The other, "Kidnappers Prosper in Baghdad," details the rise of kidnappings for ransom in Iraq, and emplhasizes that victims' families are unwilling to go to the Iraqi police, which they see as ineffective or corrupt.

So, we need to hurry up and leave since the Iraq's have it all together for themselves, led by their intrepid police forces.

* Actually, I am not sure if this position is for real or is just semantic wrangling: "[T]he five leaders contend the best way to reduce attacks on U.S. forces and improve attitudes toward the American presence here would be to give sovereignty to the council, which then would invite U.S. troops and civilian reconstruction personnel to remain in the country." If we thought we could actually avoid attacks with this sort of bait-and-switch routine, surely we'd do it.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:55 AM