AP refuses to call anyone a terrorist. Everyone's a militant or an activist. Shit I want to go to my homeowners association meeting with a grenade but that doesn't make me activist.

The dead fighters are probably carrying their Al Qaeda membership cards.

In the top left corner is the Al Qaeda trademarked logo (as a hologram to ensure against fakes).

In the middle is the member's name with a lousy photograph (kind of like your Costco ID).

Under that it says "Member since ..."

If Osama's signature appears in a hologram in the bottom right corner, it signifies that this is a Platinum card member.

Hate to do this, but...

The target of this propaganda is the Iraqis not us. Moktada al Sadr has lost control of his militia, although he is quite willing to have them not fight if that is what it takes to get the Americans to leave. His on-the-street commanders, though, are not listening to him, they are doing a blood feud with the Sunnis. Also, some of the Sunni sheiks had said they would be willing to go after al Qaeda with the U.S.

So they are trying to make it look like the enemy is somebody that both the Sunnis and the Shi'a can go after with impunity, and that it is okay not to kill each other.

We aren't the target of the propaganda, but they know the Iraqis can get information anywhere.

As for whether or not this is a good strategy, and the moral implications of having a united U.S. press tell lies to the Americans to make it work, that's totally debatable. And as for whether Rove&Co. will milk it in the U.S. for all its political worth, that's a given.

The first section, "Naming of Parts", from "Lessons of War" by Henry Reed:

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.

My Mother gave me an anthology of poetry when I was around 12 years old. This was one of the last poems in the book. The entire poem is available online at:

http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/namingofparts.html

I ask myself every day, every single day, "What has happened to us? Where are our poets? Our artists? Our writers? Where has our soul gone to? Why has reason abandoned us?"

But at least we have Glenn and Digby and a few others.

Glenn, don't forget to call these people too, for their uncritical parroting of AP:

"From the wires

2 al-Qaida Leaders Captured in Iraq"

spotted Saturday morning at... Ta Da! Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8PUH9O00.html

The GOP Base is starting to get very restive. Calling every sectarian fighter in Iraq *Al-Qaeda* keeps the Base happy. Remember, all along the ignorant 30% has bought the Bush line in its entirety. They all really believe that Al Qaeda is who we're fighting in Iraq (most of the 30% probably still doesn't get the difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis...hell, half the *Administration* still doesn't understand that one.)

In short, this change in nomenclature is desperation borne of political reality: the 30% may be starting to peel away, and the GOP would do just about anything to prevent that...

You can bet that this change in nomenclature was thoroughly focus-group tested before they started it.

What astounds me is how MSM is letting them get away with it. What the hell is WRONG with the Washington press corps? Are they all complete idiots?

I know, I know. But still. They all have to know they're being idiots, right?

Today in the Washington Post, Ricks wrote an (as always) clear-eyed article about the inadequacy of the 'surge'. The only time the term "Al Qaeda" appears in the article is in a quote from Lt. Gen. Odierno (read Fiasco if you want to know the unpretty details about Odierno as a military leader), who states that the target of the 'surge' is "the accelerants of Al Qaeda": "I mean the truck bombs, the car bombs, the chlorine bombs that they try to do in order to harass the population and try to affect the confidence in the government of Iraq. These are the attacks that we are trying to prevent." That almost seems a could-be-true statement, even if it still describes a fool's errand with way too much of the collateral damage Odierno's "style" causes. But Ricks is knowledgeable of the military and the whole Iraq misadventure, and he's clearly skeptical of official pronouncements.

AND he writes for the Washingtonpost Post. Go figure.