Al Qaida=[Origin: < Ar al-qa'ida, lit., the base].

When the White House propagandists are confronted with any questions that reflect Glenn's thesis, look for the Tony Snowish ones to say something to effect:

"The literal translation of Al Qaida from Arabic is "base."

And it's common knowledge in Iraq we are waging a war on the "base"...the terrosist base.

Therefore we deem it fully appropriate to label our current war on terror in Iraq as a fight against the base that wants to kill us. Or, in other words, "Al Qaida."

After 1948, any Arabs who tried to walk back to the homes they had been forced out of by threats of massacre (Dir Yassin, anyone?) were referred to by the Hebrew press as "mistanenim" - infilitrators (מסתננים).

After the PLO was organized, they were "mehablim" or "mehablei fatah" - terrorists or PLO terrorists (מחבלים or מחבלים מארגון הפת"ח).

By the nineties, every time a Palestinian Arab picked up a rock he was "ish Hamas" - a member of the Hamas - or "haver beirgun Az A Din Al Qassem" - a member of the Az A Din Al Qassem Brigade. (איש חמאס or חבר בארגון עז א-דין אל קאסם)

It's a form of dehumanization. First an organization is described as beyond evil - and incidentally, beyond negotiation - and then anyone you don't like gets described as a member of that evil organization.

That doesn't allow much hope for any kind of calming down of the roiling tragedy in Palestine. But why would the U.S. administration want to emulate the total failure that Israel's policies in Palestine are? I understand that they like (some) Israelis, but their policies don't work. Unless, that is, the goal is another roiling tragedy.

Somewhere around 70% of the people in this country no longer believe what this government says.

If our supine national press wishes to get that sort of approval rating, also known as cancelled subscriptions and turned-off televisions, then repeating the lies of the administration is probably a fine way to do that.

Why doesn't the American media cover the war anymore?

Because they can't. More reporters have been killed in Iraq than any other war in modern times. The only safe place to report from is the Green Zone. The only information they get in the Green Zone is provided by military sources.

There are no journalists crazy enough to venture into the countryside and check the veracity of the "al-Qaida" status of each dead body. Besides, honestly, does anyone expect that an al-Qaida fighter is going to be carrying an ID card? Or maybe they tattoo a picture of Osama on their chest.

It's ludicrous.

The whole goddamned mess is a farce and a tragedy.

I've read that we intend to clear Fallujah by August, Fallujah again, third time's a charm ... and I suspect that the next few months will be the "last chance" the military will have ... to "succeed" and to punish.

As a result, I anticipate that methods in some areas will be brutal -- like Fallujah, the second seige, which we declared a success -- after we virtually leveled the city and destroyed it's infrastructure and got caught on tape, in a mosque, executing an unarmed injured man.

Al-Qaeda made me do it!

When Gates took office he didn't even know that al Qaeda was Sunni and not Shia. Hezbollah is Shia and al Qaeda is Sunni.

So what does our brilliant President do...He arms the Sunni even though they still insist they want to kill us.

Why doesn't Bush admit he's scared shit-less of the Hezbollah? Could it be that Saudi is Sunni and a Bush business partner?

Viet-Vet

Al-Qaida were and, so far, still are Arab terrorists. By that I mean that, so far, no EU, Asian or Latin American countries have been actively designated supporters of Al-Qaida (i.e., Qaida) and enemies of America.

Since a terrorist is someone who hates our freedom (to be in their country) and fights us (or is in in the vicinity, say a few miles in any direction, of someone who is fighting us), and since an Arab terrorist is a terrorist who lives in the Middle East and since Qaida are Arab terrorists, it makes perfect sense that the Middle East is now synonymous with Qaida.

As you point out, there appear to be more Qaida now than ever before. They are multiplying like (well, certainly not rabbits since there's no sex or similar fun involved), well, to be blunt, they are multiplying like the populations of Middle East countries.

We have been told Qaida is coming into Iraq from Iran and with Qaida everywhere you look, it is imperative that we to go Iran and kill Qaida there as well if we have any hope of killing all the Qaida who are trying to kill us because they hate our freedom (to be in their country). Now with 25 million Qaida in Iraq and 65 million Qaida in Iran, we better hurry up and attack Iran before things get any worse and we end up with a couple of hundred million Qaida and it's too late and too many to kill them all.

The Mighty Wurlitzer plays a constantly shifting tune. Confused, the congregation passes the bloody offering-plate from pew to pew. Some hear the waltz, some the tango, some the battle hymn of the republic. Some hear "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", some the Monty Python Theme Song.

What does this Iraqi occupation mean, you pray, and who are we fighting? To which the Sacred Practitioner smiles patiently and explains kindly: "Well, it means whatever you want it to mean, and we're fighting them." But who are them, you ask? And the answer comes, "The ones being helped by Iran". And then the Wurlitzer Roars into the familiar chorus, and the whole choir sings:

"WASHINGTON - The U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq,

by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve,

a senior American commander said Friday.

He denied reports the U.S. is arming Sunni insurgent groups to help in the fight against al-Qaida.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top day-to-day commander of U.S. forces in Iraq,

did not predict any reductions in U.S. forces but said such redeployments may be feasible by spring."

And you look at your calendar, and see that spring is 6 months following september, and you then know that the time signature of this piece is 4/4 time, measured one stately Friedman Unit after another.