Hmmm

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything remotely political, but these articles were just too good (and too disturbing) to pass up.

• “Moving Targets” — “It’s not the way we usually play ball, but if you see a couple of your guys get blown away it changes things. We did the American things — and we’ve been the nice guy. Now we’re going to be the bad guy, and being the bad guy works.”
• “Buying Up Iraq” — “When it comes to the claim that we came to liberate the country from the oppressive, near-genocidal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi’s applaud our success. But, now that the euphoria is over, they are assessing the cost to their personal day-to-day lives. They feel their basic needs are endangered by the lack of security, social services and employment opportunities. Many Iraqis told me that although they expected improvement in a few years time, as far as jobs and personal security went, their lives had been better under Saddam’s regime.”

(And here’s the MetaFilter thread that goes along with these articles, if you want to follow the discussion.)