Gingrich Bitch-Slapped

Thank God: Even red-meat conservatives thought it was a little rich, Newt Gingrich lecturing the State Department on the fine art of diplomacy. So the administration kicked his ass. It looks like Rumsfeld met his match in Karl Rove.

Iraqis Blaming America Again

As most of you probably know, a munitions dump exploded in Baghdad today, killing 12 people. According to Reuters, Iraqis blamed the United States: "Local people turned their anger on the Americans, shooting at soldiers trying to help relief efforts and forcing them back from the scene for a while."

A lot of the Iraqis are spreading conspiracy theories, saying US soldiers blew the place up. I'm sure that's a lot of baloney, but it reminds us that the Iraqis do not trust us. They don't think we have their best interests at heart. And let's be honest: Why should they?

All the average Iraqi probably knows is that we're rich and powerful, we dropped bombs on their cities and we side with Ariel Sharon against the Palestinians. The more cosmopolitan ones might know that John Ashcroft is locking up Arabs, the President is a Christian fundamentalist and his buddies like to insult Muslims. They don't have to be knee-jerk anti-Americans to distrust our intentions.

Unfortunately, the occupation is going to be a horror show without the cooperation of the Iraqi people. We're in for a tough ride.