Iraq in Flames?

The talks to disarm Sadr's rebels in a Baghdad City ghetto have collapsed. Meanwhile, a militant Islamic group has slaughtered 12 Nepalese laborers. And a Sunday New York Times front page story detailed with depressing vividness how two other major cities -- Falluja and Ramadi -- are firmly in the hands of Islamic militants who are imposing a Taliban-like rule of law. Yep, they're lashing and beheading common criminals, and anyone considered a stooge for the US is publicly humiliated and THEN beheaded. The videotapes of these are on sale in the local marketplace for 50 cents. The US military is a bystander in all of this. And these cities are strategically crucial for control of Iraq. US officials now concede elections in January are a dim possibility at best. Did we mention the already paltry oil production has been halved by attacks on oil pipelines and other locations? Of course, no one mentions Afghanistan - the Korean War of our day -- where the Taliban is firmly ensonced in the countryside and by some accounts controls one-third of the country along with warlords.

Hey, John Kerry. Try this: when Bush mocks you for not extolling the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, mock him back. Beheadings? A third of Afghanistan in control of the Taliban and its allies? Islamic militants mocking the US in major cities in Iraq and gaining control of more and more territory? Maybe that's Bush's idea of "Mission Accomplished" but it sure isn't yours or the American peoples.