The time is past but the money is not gone. Our government knows where it all went (at least most of it). It is time to get it back from all these contractors that provided little of lasting value. It is time for Halliburton to disgorge all profits made in this war. Frankly, it is time to pursue individuals that have profited beyond a modest wage. The behavior described in this article is nothing short of criminal and criminals should not keep their loot.

Anbar province was abandoned by Rummy so as to concentrate more Marines in Baghdad to keep a lid on a simmering civil war about to boil over.

Now Anbar is pretty much Haji country. Marine patrols out there don't go out of their way to mix it up with beefed up Sunni militiamen and the ficticious "Al Qaeda terrorists" Bush believes we are fighting

To turn the tables on one of the attorneys for the defense of some of the soldiers who were said to commit atrocities on civilians at Haditha, "Joining the Marine Corp is not a suicide pact."

Indeed it isn't. While befuddled old Rummy fiddles with his maps and wipes his glasses, real young American troops are out there in the heat and dust and black of night, still under-equipped, under-manned, and completely ignored by all but their families back home.

By 1971 in Vietnam, there wasn't a soldier or Marine in Vietnam who didn't know that Nixon and Kissinger were playing politics with our young lives. But like our troops today, we couldn't say anything because nobody can hear you from "out there" and besides, there is something called esprit d' corp, and no matter how bad things get, you suck it up and drive on. You're not fighting for anything but yourselves at that point. You will not break and you will not let your comrades down.

God bless our men and women over there. It's hard for me not to break down and cry sometimes when I see pictures of them because I am so goddamned proud of them.

Bush is saying they will stay there and die and be crippled until he leaves office.

He's always been by turns a coward, a bully, and a fool.

America deserves better.

It must be that we could not believe, not even imagine the monumental scale of their Breathtaking Incompetence, Comprehensive Delusion, and Placid Brutality. For cryin out loud, just by chance, they should have gotten a few things right. But, no.

In my previous post I asked, "How have W.Bush & Co. survived this long?" I meant, HOW HAVE THEY STAYED IN OFFICE? Nothing about their physical survival.

Michael Brown was truly the paradigm official of this administration. In these two pages, we meet one empty suit after another, not one qualified for his job. Political hires in over their heads -- just like the guy at the very top. The banality of evil has found its counterpart in sheer ignorance.

Neocons have been mugged by reality. When will they be mugged by voters?

"Most Americans in the Green Zone wore suede combat boots."

I know it is a minor point in the article, but as someone that is currently stationed in Iraq (and far from the Green Zone); I just couldn't let it go. EVERYONE wears suede combat boots. That is the standard issue for everyone deployed to the desert, not just effete protocol officers lounging around in one of Saddam's palaces in downtown Baghdad.

As the complexities of WWII and Germany were gradually revealed while in high school, I remember how utterly mystified I was by the lack of opposition from the victims themselves. In my mind, their unwillingness to react to the ever increasing violence against them by their government was incomprehensible, as was their belief that each atrocity would be the last.

So I can easily imagine a future generation of students reacting with disbelief and bewilderment as they study the George W. Bush presidency. How could the citizens have ignored the blatant destruction of their civil liberties and economic protections? Why did two branches of the government allow the reversal of a country's history and aid the executive branch in its takeover of government? Did anyone try to stop the President and his administration?

God, I hope the answer to the last question is 'yes, and the opposition's efforts were successful'.

So what does all this incompetence mean? What does it mean that this level of performance is accepted? Clearly, in organizations striving for growth and success, those accountable would be exposed and disciplined.

How do military commanders put their troops in peril? How do civilian commanders allow the pillage of a country and the stealing of this country's taxes? If life was as simple as a movie, it would be easy to say these people went over to the dark side. But life is not that simple. Somehow criminals began running the system. How did this happen? It is a tale to be told. It’s a pity that so many will have suffered in the telling.

The tale begins... A picture, my reflection in water, there’s none so clever. What if all were so? But then my gift, not so princely. I am who turns the world.

How can these guys get away with this? Nothing I have just read is even tangental to responsable government. Why isn't there any accountability? What the hell is going on? Isn't there any one paying attention who can affect this horse shit? This is very frustrating and scary.

What has happened in Iraq is nothing more than a concentrated example of what the extreme right and the neocons will do to this country if they are able. Dismantling things that work in order to implement things that don't work. Squandering of public funds on a gigantic scale. Decisions based solely on ideology and fantasy. Money and positions poured on friends and cronies who are not held accountable. Reward of incompetence and punishment of competence. Shoot-from-the-hip instead of plans. No concern for the consequences, followed by a denial of the consequences. Grandiose assertions of competence followed by criminal incompetence and malfeasance. A preoccupation with non-threats and ignoring of real threats. Little concern for the people being ruled. The triumph of faith over reality throughout.

I used to favor Democrats because I just didn't like most Republicans very much. Now, I truly think that the long-term survival of the country is at stake, and that continued extremist right-wing Republican rule would be an actual disaster. The Democrats are far from perfect, but my God, compared to the alternative . . . . .