Chandrasekaran's article is taken from his new book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, which is definitely a great title as well as a great gag ("This doesn't look like Kansas, Toto!") I wish I'd thought of it. The book appears to be part of a trend on the part of the Washington Post and its reporters to tell the paper's readers all the things they badly needed to know three years ago about the conduct of the Iraq War.I Mean, HELLO!!!!
...
But it wasn't the Washington Post or the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or any of the other corporate media that originally broke the story. It was the blogosphere's own Josh Marshall, Laura Rozen (of War and Piece) and Colin Soloway, writing for the Washington Monthly, in December 2003. That was almost three years ago. And now -- only now -- it's showing up on the front page of a major national newspaper.
Better late than never, I suppose. But it's a little late to set things right. The CPA is part of history now, with only a failed war to remember it by. And, of course, the 2,683 American soldiers (and counting) who had to die to provide all those Republican Party hacks with another line on their resumes.
[ cf Whiskey Bar: The RNC Branch Office on the Tigris ]
It was not like anyone really believed that Going After Osama Bin Laden was going to make things any better.
Besides, those were tough economic times, and the Government needed to make Jobs Available to Folks, and if that Means Accidentally Inserting a whole Lot Of American Troops into some Other Nation, Well, what IS wrong with that as a basis for Installing a Coalitional Provincial Authority....
These ARE times of Transferring The Tax Liabilities Unto The Unborn.... And those Iranian Flying Saucers Could Come Back!!! And People Need to Support The President To Support The Troops!!!!