The Grinder

Lately we have been getting snips of what Iraq really looks like and I confess as against the war as I always have been, as much of an antagonist of the administration and its sycophant brigade as I attempt to be, without the real images and stories getting out, it is difficult to relate. Now with stories like the one by Lara Logan suppressed by CBS, like the videos recently posted, one of Iraqi soldiers beating the shit out of Iraqi civilians while American soldiers look on act like they are watching a video game, like the image of an American Humvee barreling through the streets (presumably of Baghdad) ramming into every vehicle that gets in its way on a heavily trafficked boulevard. These are the images that show us reality and it is most certainly not pretty--actually it looks to be nightmarish.

From yesterday's NYT (via Juan Cole) comes an essay by reporter Sabrina Tavernise who has given us another glimpse of a tattered and torn country. It sure makes you wonder what "winning" means to the people debating whether we can still accomplish such a goal.