Meanwhile, In Iraq...

How are things in Iraq at the end of this week? Let's take a look.

Firstly, the war in Iraq has now outpaced U.S. involvement in WWII:
Iraq > World War II (The Nation)

And older troops are being called up again to die for Rumsfeld's mistakes:
Troops long out-of-uniform sent to Iraq (AP)

Moving over to Iraq, in the Kurdish north, things are not as calm as one thinks:
Kurds flee homes as Iran shells Iraq's northern frontier (The Guardian)

In the capitol, things are even worse:
7 Killed as Full-Scale Sectarian Fighting Rages in Baghdad (NY Times)

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials are forced to double funds to import oil into the country:
Iraq faces fuel crisis amid the violence (AP)

The investigation into the Haditha massacre looks into whether Marines destroyed evidence:
Marines May Have Excised Evidence on 24 Iraqi Deaths (NY Times)

Here at home, the Congressional Budget Office shows the deficit growing, in part due to the costs of war:
CBO Forecasts ‘Staying the Course’ In Iraq Would Increase Deficit By $1.3 Trillion Over Next Decade (Think Progress)

The Pentagon has begun an in-depth reassessment of what went wrong:
Pentagon studying its war errors (Boston Globe)

Reports indicate the administration is quietly giving up on democracy succeeding in Iraq:
Bombs Aimed at G.I.’s in Iraq Are Increasing (NY Times)

Finally, CNN's Jack Cafferty runs down all the times we were told we had achieved in Iraq.

[PS- I said it before, but I'm serious about this... Let's officially take bets now- 1) President Bush stubbornly stays the course out of continued delusion and misplaced pride? Or, 2) An October surprise of troop withdrawals to be seen on every news channel? My money's been on the latter for months. What say you, blog reader(s)?]