REALITY:
W-Ya! says things are going well in Iraq. So does his puppet government over there (at least Prime Minister Allawi, visiting his puppeteers in Washington mouths so). My man in D.C., Nicholas Conger, describes the PM’s visit:
“ . . . as part of a motorcade on my way to work this morning (9-23-04) . . . He (Allawi) was on his way to the White House, which is down the street from my office. I was told I couldn't cross L Street until the motorcade passed by. In an attempt to sneak a peak, I was blinded by the host of mean looking gentlemen fully equipped with Uzis literally pointing them at the crowd of on-lookers, just looking for a reason to open fire. It was wild. I was afraid that if I sneezed I may be viewed as an enemy combatant and thus shot to pieces right there on the corner of 17th and L.”
WHO WAS PACKIN’?
That scenario must have made the PM feel right at home. I wonder if he was packin’ heat: From SMH.com.au, a Fairfax News service in Australia, by Paul McGeough, July 17, 2004. Old news, I know, it was in our mainstream media I recall:
“Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.
“They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre, in the city's south-western suburbs.
“They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they ‘deserved worse than death’. (sic, British usage).
“The Prime Minister's office has denied the entirety of the witness accounts in a written statement to the Herald, saying Dr Allawi had never visited the centre and he did not carry a gun.
“But the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence.”
Homestyle liberation! Now that’s Texas-style democracy and justice, folks! Shoot the handcuffed and blindfolded first, ask questions later! W-Ya! picked his man for sure.
Read the whole thing at http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/16/1089694568757.html?oneclick=true I had to sign up to sign on.
MOSTLY POESY (which looks like reality to me)
I took the Cambridge Literary Test, courtesy of a link posted by John Dufresne http://www.johndufresne.com/Dufresne%20Blog.htm I got an 80. I missed two of ten questions (must admit I made many guesses). It’s fun and challenging, especially if you’ve been out of school for thirty years (must admit, I never left). http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/quiz/quiz1.htm
More hard labor yesterday: Our house-cleaning guy was feeling a little under the weather. It’s been a while since I cleaned house, did some laundry, too. I tell you, physical labor is good for the soul.
