Odds and Ends

Thank god it's Friday actually fucking warm out. Here's the news...

The Bush administration policy toward Iraq is 'As they stand up, we stand down' ummm, your guess is as good as mine. From McClatchy: "Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces."

The article continues: "Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said." Victory's imminent now.

Oh wait, here's a plan! Wall off Sunni neighborhoods! It worked in Berlin, right??

And Sec. Gates turns into moonbat... warns Iraqi leaders that U.S. patience is wearing thin.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when Speaker Pelosi went to Syria and the White House lead the way for a right-wing attack on her? Turns out that the President pulled Pelosi aside this week and says basically 'hey, don't blame me, big understanding, the State Department was the one who did it'. {*thud*}

Meanwhile, the FBI raids the business of another Republican congressman.

Finally, the House yesterday passed a bill "giving the District [of Columbia] its first full seat in Congress". The bill is expected to die a slow death in the Senate or will be vetoed if manages to pass there.