Monday, February 13, 2006
There Is No Good News In War on Terror...Just Ask The WaPo
Terrorism on the Wane in Iraq
There are far fewer (about half as many as last year) Islamic militants crossing over from Syria. Part of this is because of more army activity along the border, and more cooperation from the Sunni Arab tribes. But some of the decline is coming from falling morale. Potential Islamic terrorist recruits now know that their prospects in Iraq are dim. Not only are they likely to kill Iraqi civilians, but if they come up against American troops, the result will usually be dead terrorists and a failed mission. The terrorist money crossing the border is also way down, and police have found more terrorists involved in crime (especially kidnapping) in order to raise money for operating expenses.
He comments, "...there are increasingly many reasons to be optimistic." Obviously this Cardinalpark personage (whoever he is) has not been reading The Washington Post:
OM AL-KABARI, Iraq -- In this once-thriving smuggling village on Iraq's border with Syria, the last donkeys are dying.
Mothers complain they have no shoes for their children and only soup to feed them. Men sit idly playing checkers and bemoaning the night when American scout helicopters swooped overhead, spelling the end of their livelihoods.
"We could get around everything, but not the helicopters," sighed Mahmood Ahmed, 29, who, along with most of the men in this village of 400 people, admitted he was a smuggler. "We're having nightmares about them."
With their income shriveling, the smugglers could no longer afford food for the hundreds of donkeys they used to haul 30-gallon drums of benzene, cartons of cigarettes and other goods into Syria.
"There is no grass, no money to feed them. So they all died," said Yassin Ali, 39, pointing to a mangy, skeletal white donkey lying listless nearby.
Weren't the Post (and not a few Democrat Congressmen) recently fulminating about how terrorists were streaming through Iraq's "porous" borders? Now it appears the military has successfully sealed off those "porous" borders... and the media, of course, are just falling all over themselves in the rush to tell America the good news!
A perfectly viable illegal economy... devastated.
Scores of donkeys... lying in a listless torpor.
Dispirited checker matches in the Arabian heat.
Cori Dauber (via NB) comments:
...does the reporter explain how this was one of the main routes used by foreign fighters looking to enter Iraq in order to marytyr themselves while killing either innocent Iraqis or American soldiers? Does the reporter discuss how critical closing this border was believed to be by the American military?
No.
...honest to God you could not make this up.
5 Comments:
By 
TigerHawk, at
Mon Feb 13, 10:01:00 PM:
We know that Karl Rove is responsible for donkeys dying figuratively -- just look at the results of the 2004 election -- but who knew he was literally killing them off?
By Cassandra, at
Tue Feb 14, 05:00:00 AM:
Somewhere, somehow, in a Third World country, donkeys are suffering...
And an uncaring Republican administration is to blame.
Seriously, you really do have to wonder where the Post's fabled "balance" got to on this one. All I've been reading about for months is our 'failure to secure the borders'.
Now it's Donkeys... Death on the Border.
I can understand the 'human interest angle' or whatever because that's legitimate, but for Pete's sake. We can't win for losing with these people. But hey - there is no media bias.
By Cardinalpark, at
Tue Feb 14, 08:18:00 AM:
Ya had me goin' there for a minute...
Donkeys? Too funny.
By Cassandra, at
Tue Feb 14, 09:07:00 AM:
I was hoping you weren't mad at me, CP :)
Sorry - I couldn't resist pulling your tail a bit, but it was done with great affection. Yesterday was a loooooong day at work.
By OBloodyHell, at
Wed Feb 15, 09:10:00 AM:
> We know that Karl Rove is responsible for donkeys dying figuratively -- just look at the results of the 2004 election -- but who knew he was literally killing them off?
Bwaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaahhhhhhaaaaahhhhhhaaaahhhhaaaaa!
Good one.
