All righty ya’ll.  I know you’ve done heard of those meals in a jar that wimmin-folk make at Christmas time.  You know.  Cookies in a jar, soup in a jar, hot chocolate in a jar.  You know the stuff….gotta follow the directions, add the water or hot milk and all of that.  Well, I find them things nice to get at Christmas time, but not all that convenent simpul oh hell, easy to do.  Me and my old man Cletus, we done come up with a new "in a jar" product that don’t need nothing added, don’t need no mixin’ and will make life just a little bit more interesting for us all.  Moonshine in a jar.  A-yup.  Just crank ‘er open and toss ‘er back.  That’s all it takes.

I find that these make good gifts at weddin’s so the bride and groom can get all drunk and see what that married thang is all about.  I reckon it also is a nice baby shower gift.  The ma will need some of my majic joos once that youngun starts squallerin.  Hell, this would even be a nice item to have at your uncle’s funeral.  All them crying people - we all need a drink during those times.  It’s also great for momma’s day comin’ up.  You know yer momma wants some of this, doncha?  Hell, just shoot me a note and I’ll getcha set up.  Iffin I get too many requests, I may have to buy me another tub to set up more distillin’.  Yeee doggies!

Don’t fergit all my inbread friends and cuzins in the trailerpark:

This is an important read.  Rusty Shakleford brings you part three in his series of interviews with Roy Hallums’ family.  Roy is an American who is being held hostage in Iraq - he was captured on November 1, 2004.  This interview is with Roy’s daughter, Carrie.  Please stop by The Jawa Report and learn how the family is handling this tragic situation.

This is an awesome recipe!  I need to make it more than I do.  The flavor is just amazing!  Some people are a bit apprehensive about cooking with anchovies - I used to be one of them.  In this recipe, the anchovies actually do "melt" and you would never know they are in the pasta.  You would definitely know if they weren’t there, though!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tin flat fillet of anchovies, drained, 6 or 7 fillets
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, 4 or 5 sprigs stripped or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup clam juice or chicken stock (I do some of each)
1 can (15 ounces) fancy whole baby clams
1 lemon, zested
1 pound linguini, slightly undercooked, about 6 to 7 minutes
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
Lots of black pepper and some coarse salt
Crusty bread, for mopping

Instructions:

Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 4 turns of the pan in a slow stream, red pepper flakes, garlic and anchovies and cook until anchovies melt into the oil. Add thyme and wine. Reduce wine 1 minute. Add clam juice or stock, clam juice will give the dish a stronger clam flavor, chicken stock will give it a buttery personality. Stir in clams and lemon zest. Drain pasta. Add to skillet and toss with sauce 2 to 3 minutes, until pasta is al dente and has absorbed some of the sauce and flavor. Add parsley, pepper and salt, to your taste and serve with bread for mopping up remaining juices.

recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray

Sally Goodrich, a mother who lost her son in the second plane to hit the World Trade Center on the September 11 attacks, had an opportunity to see the Afghan school being built with money she raised in the U.S.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Sally Goodrich, whose son died in the Sept. 11 attacks, kept a grip on her grief as she surveyed the foundations of the Afghan school being built with money she raised in the United States.

But the 59-year-old, who lost her son in the second plane to hit the World Trade Center, has been overwhelmed more than once as she surveyed the striking landscape of mountains and plains where al-Qaida honed its plot.

"How could it possibly have come from a place of such reverence and tranquility?" she told The Associated Press in the Afghan capital this week, the thought bringing fresh tears and a determined smile.

Goodrich, a native of Bennington, Vt., and an administrator for schools in nearby North Adams, Mass., has helped raise about $180,000 for the new girl’s school in Surkh Abat, about 30 miles south of Kabul, in Logar province.

On Wednesday, she visited the site in a fertile valley edged by jagged mountains. Teachers and pupils gave her jewelry and a penholder made of colored beads. Later, they sang songs of welcome.

"All I had to do was maintain my composure, which was the most I could do," Goodrich said in an interview in a government guesthouse in Kabul, wearing a black headscarf even indoors out of respect for the country’s deep-rooted Islamic customs.

A childhood friend of Peter Goodrich, Sally’s son, wrote to Sally and Don Goodrich about the poor state of schools where he was stationed in Afghanistan.  What started as an effort to raise money for supplies turned into a much larger mission.  Supplies were sent to another school in Logar run out of a private home, but the Goodriches and others decided that Afghan children needed more than just supplies. 

Local churches, schools and family friends helped raise the funds for the school, paying some into a memorial foundation. Some of the money also came from compensation paid to families of the victims of the 2001 attacks.

The site for the new school was identified with the help of an Afghan deputy interior minister who once worked as an assistant to David Edwards, a professor at Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass., who also is involved in the project.

Haji Malik, the 60-year-old foreman of the construction site, said the people from seven nearby villages were delighted about the new school and the generosity of the "kind foreign lady."

"I condemn what happened on Sept. 11," Malik said as about 20 men heaved chunks of stone onto the foundations and smothered them in cement. "We are all part of humanity, we are all brothers, even if we have different religions."

One laborer, Ghulam Dastagir, said his three small daughters jumped up and down for joy when they heard about the school, which will serve elementary and middle grades.

Bibi Hawa, a 10-year-old girl minding four cows nearby, said she also would like to come to the school, "but my father won’t let me," suggesting conservative Muslim traditions would deprive some local children of a chance for education.

Sally Goodrich said her visit was heartwarming and that the 10 female teachers had made clear their sympathy for her loss.

"You see it in they eyes, that they understand suffering," she said.

Sally and her husband plan to return to see the first classes in the completed building, which will fall around the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. 

Truly this story transcends politics and all of the critical fingerpointing we have seen since September 11.  Girls, who just 4-5 years ago would never have had an opportunity to go to school, will be attending a brand new school built because of the generous outpouring of Americans - those who were greatly impacted by the attacks that were planned on the very soil the school’s foundation now stands. 

Nebraska has a new law that went into effect in Mid-April that classifies domestic strangulation as a Class 4 Felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. 

The first conviction has made its way through the court system (emphasis mine): 

LA VISTA, Neb. – What may be Nebraska’s first felony strangulation conviction has made its way through the courts, but the victim’s family isn’t happy with the outcome. The new classification of domestic strangulation as a crime is punishable by up to five years in prison, but Daniel Chumley, of La Vista, got probation. The victim’s family believes the system let them down, but the Sarpy County Attorney feels differently. 

Memorial weekend 2004, Tiffany Johnson’s ex-boyfriend, Daniel Chumley, showed up at her apartment and strangled her with his hands.  "She was choked, basically, to unconsciousness," said Christi Adams, Johnson’s mother.  Chumley ran and hid at his mother’s house. He staged a four-hour standoff with police, which ended when tear gas finally forced him out.

Adams said her daughter lives in fear of Chumley. When Chumley pleaded guilty to a felony charge under Nebraska’s new strangulation statute she had hoped he would be sentenced to one to three years in prison.  "So, it was quite a shock when she got a phone call on the morning of sentencing that there was a possibility this judge would give him probation," said Adams.

Chumley was not sentenced to one to three years; he received probation, even though he’s in jail now for violating DUI probation.  Sarpy County District Judge William Zastera sentenced Chumley to 30 months probation. He must refrain from alcohol use and complete an inpatient treatment program. Zastera declined to comment on the case.

Chief Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Tricia Freeman, who helped draft the strangulation legislation, said without the new felony law, Chumley may have gotten off on a misdemeanor.  Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov believes the system worked.  "A felony conviction is a serious condition," said Polikov. "It’s a defendant who’s going to have to jump through some significant hoops. And if he doesn’t, I’m sure he’ll do time."

I certainly appreciate the fact that this case didn’t turn out to bring with it a misdemeanor offense, but instead of writing a law to segment this type of crime out from others, I think it would have been a more valuable effort to strengthen the law to charge these types of criminals more heavily, more aligned with attempted murder, not merely assault.  I’m finding it hard to understand why strangling someone to unconsciousness wouldn’t be considered attempted murder, carrying with it a much stronger penalty.  It seems to be that laws are written to err on the side of the criminal with the questionable behavior versus protecting the victim.  This man should be serving time in a facility, not on probation.

Traderrob gives us an update of that wacky gal, Hanoi Jane, and her antics.  In a nutshell, she’s up to her old tricks, disrespecting our men and women in uniform (hmmm…not to mention America, the country that has afforded her the opportunities to pursue her life-long dreams and make her lots of money). 

Piss on Jane Fonda.  No, really, you can!  Go here to get Jane Fonda urinal stickers.  Get those and you can literally piss on her.  If she hates the American way so much, she should pack up her exercise tapes and her unsold books and leave.  Jane, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Every once in a while, human beings attempt to place at least some value on human life.   

The Bush administration told doctors and hospitals on Friday that they must make every effort to save the lives of premature babies born after failed abortions.

The administration’s directive said such efforts were required by a 2002 law known as the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said the federal government would "aggressively enforce" the law.

Under the law, the administration said, a fetus that survives an abortion procedure is no longer a fetus, but a person entitled to emergency medical care and protection against child abuse and neglect.

I’m very appreciative that this step is being taken.  While this type of situation doesn’t happen frequently, I cannot fathom a decision being made to allow an infant who survives such a situation to die without an attempt at life saving measures. 

In signing the bill in August 2002, President Bush said, "This important legislation ensures that every infant born alive - including an infant who survives an abortion procedure - is considered a person under federal law."

At hearings of the House Judiciary Committee in 2000 and 2001, a few hospital employees testified that infant "abortion survivors" had been allowed to die, the committee said.

Mr. Smith (Dennis G. Smith, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations) cited the Congressional testimony as a reason for the administration’s concern. After one attempted abortion, he said, "the child was breathing, the heart was beating and the child continued to live for several hours."

But Richard H. Wade, senior vice president of the American Hospital Association, said Friday: "These occurrences are extremely rare. The only evidence is anecdotal."

That’s okay, Richard H. Wade, if only ONE infant is saved from death following an abortion procedure, I’ll take your "anecdotal" evidence and raise you a human life.

By its terms, the law protects "every infant member of the species Homo sapiens" who "breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles" after expulsion or extraction from the womb as a result of normal childbirth, a Caesarean section or an induced abortion.

So now there is a law in place that protects babies following explusion or extraction from the womb.  It’s too bad these whackos and these whack jobs can’t see that for a baby to be alive once it is "extracted" from the womb, it had to be alive INSIDE the womb as well.  Murder is what we call killing a live human being - their "surroundings" shouldn’t matter.  Instead, these extremists use words such as "potential human being" or "parasite" to describe the miracle of a baby in the womb. 

I think stronger enforcement of this law is one step in the right direction.  You can read the full article here.  Also stop at Raven’s place to read more about how the whack jobs try to justify the murdering of babies in the womb.

There has been a lot in the news recently regarding registered sex offenders who had been in prison for their crimes and were sent back into society.  Their next crime was taking the lives of innocent children.  Most recently, we have all heard of the Jessica Lundsford case.  Over at Parrot Check, Craig posted about this tragedy, and the horrific news that Jessica had been buried alive.

Yes folks, she was bound, wrapped up in plastic trashbags, and then buried. I can not stomach the horror that this beautiful little girl must have gone through. I can only imagine the fear, the pain. I can imagine the feeling of being unable to breathe. The gasping struggle for air. And then imagine it happening to Jessica. I feel a fury only a parent can feel. If it were my child that was tortured and murdered, the person or persons responsible had better watch their backs for the rest of their lives lest they meet a fate less than pleasant.

It is a known fact that sexual predators are rarely, if ever, "rehabilitated."  Why do we let these monsters back on the street?  In an article on Fox News:

Criminologists say it’s all too frequent that the perpetrator is a pathological sexual predator, as in the case of Jessica’s alleged killer in Florida, John Evander Couey, and Roger Paul Bentley, who Iowa police say murdered Jetseta.

“It happens all the time,� said Louis B. Schlesinger, a forensic psychologist specializing in criminal behavior and sex crimes at John J. College of Criminal Justice in New York. “The dangerous ones have a high recidivism rate.�

According to data from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, there are 381,967 entries for sex offenders in the NCIC Sex Offender Registration File — though not all states require sex offenders to be registered in the same way and some offenders are entered into the database for more than one state.

There have been multiple cases by which these sex offenders don’t end up registering when they move, and a significant number of these criminals end up moving in right next to schools.  The laws vary by state, the burden to register is largely left up to the offender (are the nuts running the asylum here?!?!?!?) and there are multiple loopholes these freaks find.  In many states, a police department can’t even act.  If they discover that a sex offender has moved too close to a school, AKA violating the terms of their release, they can only be told to move - no arrest!  So in effect, the very laws that were supposedly designed to keep our children safe are, in fact, doing the exact opposite - "cocooning" the criminal!  More on the Fox News article:

The Jessica Lunsford case so outraged her Florida community that a state representative, Charles Dean, said he’s introducing a bill called the "Jessica Lunsford Act" that would, among other things, require convicted sex offenders to wear electronic tracking devices.

“It’s a matter of us doing the job right. We need to find the loopholes, find the cracks,� Dean told FOX News.

As I stated previously, these criminals should not be given another chance and turned lose in society:

The reason many convicted sex offenders go out and molest more children, say sociologists and criminologists, is similar to why alcoholics continue to drink.

“Their sexual preference is for children. They have a compulsion to molest children,� said Keith F. Durkin, a criminologist at Ohio Northern University and an expert in the study of pedophilia. “Many, if not all, will molest children until the day they die. They’re dangerous and they’re going to reoffend.�

But there aren’t accurate numbers about the rate of recidivism among child molesters, since many of their repeat offenses go unreported.

Not only are they almost certain to continue sexually abusing children, but some eventually kill their young victims — more often than not for the purpose of keeping them quiet.

“Usually it’s to cover up the crime so the victim won’t say who he is,� Schlesinger said.

Which is more than likely what happened to Jessica Lunsford.  The thing that gets me, though, is the court’s unwillingness to LISTEN TO THE CRIMINAL and act appropriately (emphasis below is mine): 

But a number of sex offenders do know they can’t be trusted around kids. Couey reportedly was so aware of his problem that he’d pleaded for help in the past, saying he was a danger to children because he couldn’t stop himself from sexually abusing them. That compulsion is what makes it next to impossible to “cure� chronic child molesters.

“They’re basically untreatable,� Schlesinger said. “They’re predatory, compulsive, repetitive offenders. These are very dangerous people, aroused by children. That’s part of their sexuality. It’s very, very difficult to change that.�

In spite of that reality, many still are only serving fractions of their sentences — which often are light to begin with.

“The bottom line is that almost all these offenders will get out because they don’t have any laws barring them fro m getting out,� Schlesinger said. “They’re allowed back in the community because the court system is following the law.�

If someone had listened to Couey, and taken action, this little girl would still be alive.  Wouldn’t you think that common sense should prevail in these cases?

I cannot even begin to understand the grieving Jessica’s family has had to endure, and certainly can’t even fathom the horror this innocent girl faced when buried alive.  But I am a Mom.  And I know what I would do to any son-of-a-bitch who comes anywhere near *MY* children.  As my good friend Raven said: "FURY wouldn’t be the word I would use to describe how I would feel."  It goes way beyond that.

Please visit Dr. Rusty Shackleford’s site to read part two of his multi-part interview with the family of Roy Hallums, an American citizen held hostage in Iraq since November 1, 2004.

We must never forget all of the brave men and women in Iraq and serving abroad, whether in uniform or not.

Okay, ya’ll.  Here is a real White Trash Candidate.  This here guy dun decided that he wanted to practice his cutting technique on body parts - parts not his own, mind you.  I reckon he done thought no one would never know since they was just parts.  Here’s the story:

WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) - A morgue assistant accused of stealing body parts from a medical school so he could practice dissections at home was sentenced to more than two years in prison.

David Lawrence Beale, 47, was arrested in 2003 after more than 150 pounds of decomposing body parts, including two heads, were found near his Davis home. He pleaded no contest Monday to stealing human remains from the medical center at the University of California at Davis and possessing methamphetamine.

"This is a crime involving a great deal of callousness," said Superior Court Judge Michael Sweet.

Police initially suspected homicide when a tip led them to human remains in the trash at a trailer park where Beale once lived. Lawyers for Scott Peterson traveled to the area to search for evidence that Peterson’s wife, Laci, had been killed by a cult.

Beale allegedly told investigators he had been taking remains home for more than a decade. The parts were from cadavers donated to the medical center for research.

There just ain’t something right about a man takin’ body parts home.  How do you plan for somethin’ like that?

Be sure to check out my cuzins on the WTW blogroll on the right side of this page!

Please stop by Dr. Rusty Shackelford’s site to read the first in a series of posts regarding an interview he had with the family of Roy Hallums, an American civilian contractor who was abducted from his temporary home in Iraq on November 1, 2004.  The maintstream media has not been focused on this story, one that needs our attention.  The Hallums family is still facing this situation on a daily basis and can use our support and prayers.  Roy particularly needs our prayers to get him through what has to be an experience none of us can even comprehend. 

Please stop by the Free Roy site and lend your support to Roy and his family.

In an effort to emulate his idol, John Kerry, former U.S. senator and Dem presidential hopeful Bob Kerrey can’t seem to make up his mind about running for New York mayor:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bob Kerrey said on Monday it was "unlikely" he would run for New York mayor, backing off comments he made in recent days.

FLIP FLOP ALERT!

Kerrey, who is president of New York’s New School University, mused in an interview with The New York Times on Saturday whether he should enter the race for City Hall because he was so dissatisfied with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"This past Saturday I answered a question from a reporter who asked if I was seriously considering becoming a candidate for mayor of New York City, and I said I was," Kerrey, who was a member of the national commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, said in a statement.

FLIP -

"It is unlikely I will enter this race as a candidate."

- FLOP!

But the man who admitted four years ago that a unit he led in the Vietnam war had killed unarmed civilians left the possibility of a run open, saying, "I intend to make a final decision and announcement later this week."

In other words, there’s a special on FLIP-FLOPS at Wal-Mart.

The possibility of a nationally-known Democrat running against Bloomberg had New York’s political establishment aflutter over the weekend.

Bloomberg’s Democrat rivals have been dogged by criticism they lack the vision to challenge the billionaire mayor. The leading Democrat — former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, who leads in some polls — has been relentlessly dogged over controversial comments he made that the 1999 police shooting of an unarmed African immigrant was not a crime.

Other Democrats seeking a run against Bloomberg have performed poorly in polls.

Kerrey told The New York Times on Saturday that he was disillusioned with Bloomberg’s efforts to gain federal funding to guard the city against another attack and that the mayor was spending too much time trying to get support for a new stadium as part of the city’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

FLIP FLOP ALERT, FLIP FLOP ALERT!

"The political analysts were starting to yawn at this race and (Kerrey) added a little juice," said Douglas Muzzio, Baruch College professor of public affairs. "None of the four Democrat candidates have offered anything approaching a compelling vision to get rid of the mayor."

He said Kerrey’s announcement that he was unlikely to run showed "sanity had prevailed."

Sanity and Democrat in the same article.  I’d acquiesce and say that I would agree that sanity had prevailed, but I’ll log on tomorrow and Kerrey will be running for sure.  FLIP FLOP!

Bloomberg’s campaign manager Stuart Loeser said Kerrey had previously praised Bloomberg’s tenure in City Hall.

A spokesman for Ferrer did not return phone calls.

I think my hubby’s right.  It’s time to shred this guy’s "Nebraska residency" card!  No doubt, and no flip-floppin’ here!

Ten years ago, on the morning of April 19, 2005, Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and, at 9:02am, a massive explosion occurred which sheared the entire north side of the building, killing 168 people. The site now houses a memorial to those who lost their lives due to this senseless tragedy. 

The numbers truly speak for themselves:

168 people killed

19 children killed

1 rescuer killed

850 people injured

85 rescuers suffer minor injuries

30 children orphaned

219 children lost at least one parent

462 people left homeless

7000 people left without a workplace

12,384 participated in rescue, recovery and support

387,000 estimated number of people in OKC who knew someone killed or injured in the bombing (roughly a third of the population)

190,000 estimated number of people attending funerals for bombing victims (19% of the population of OKC)

Over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed

More than 1000 people survived

Source:  Governor Frank Keating’s office, 1995

Hopefully those whose lives were altered forever have been able to heal some over the last 10 years.  It is evident, when you look around the Internet, there are still many supposed "Americans" who empathize with the likes of Timothy McVeigh and blast the very ideals this country was founded upon.  May what we learned this tragic day keep us on an ever-ready watch for this kind of hatred and may we stop it before the hatred turns into another bloodbath.

You heard it first, right here, ya’ll.  This week is Cowboy Poetry Week.  You think I’m like a horse needin’ to go out to pasture?  Not me.  Take off your hat and kick off your boots because Cowboy Poetry Week is here!

And to honor this celebration, I bring to you a most amazing poem that I’m sure will bring back fond memories for many of you regarding baths as a youngun.  I especially like the part about the squealing hog.  Reminds me of the movie "Deliverance."  Enjoy, ya’ll!

Ma’s Old Galvanized Washtub

Did you ever take your Saturday Bath
An’ try to wash an’ scrub,
While squattin’ down on your haunches
In a galvanized washing tub?
If not, then you ain’t missed a thing.
But now I’m telling’ you what’s right.
I done it ’til I wuz almost grown
An’ every doggone Saturday night!
In summer it was bad enuff
But, in winter it was rough.
Spreading papers, buckets and kettles
An all of that sort of stuff.
Getting ready for that ordeal
Was only half the rub
Of takin’ a bath on Saturday night
In a galvanized washin’ tub.
Did you ever stand there stripped to the skin,
A wood stove bakin’ your hide,
A dreadin’ to put your dern foot in
Fer Fear you’d be burned alive?
Finally you’d git th’ temperature right
An’ into th’ tub you’d crawl.
That cold steel ‘ud touch your back
An’ you’d squeal like a fresh stuck hog!
Then you’d get outa the tub next to the stove
And stand there drippin’ and shakin’.
The front of your body is freezing to death
While the back of your body is bakin’.
Shiverin’ ‘n’ shakin’, burnin’ ‘n’ bakin’,
That’s the awful price I had to pay.
That awful ordeal’ll haunt me’
Until I’m old and gray.
I ain’t done yet?there’s something’ else
That I’ve been wantin’ to say.’
I wuz the youngest of all us kids
Who bathed on Saturday.
We all bathed accordin’ to age
And I fell last in order,
Which meant I had to wash myself
In their dad-blamed dirty water.
Now, I’m a guy (gal) o’clean habits
And believe in a bath a week.
It helps to keep me healthy
And freshen my physique.
But if I had my druthers,
I’d rather eat a bug
Than to take my Saturday bath
In a galvanized washin’ tub!

Author Unknown

From the Washington Ho’s:

BAGHDAD, April 16 — A group of masked, armed men believed to be Sunni extremists reportedly is threatening to kill a group of Shiite Muslim hostages in a central Iraqi town unless Shiite residents leave their homes, according to a police officer and Shiite Muslim officials.

Many details of the apparently still-evolving situation in Mada’in, a town about 30 southeast of Baghdad, remain unclear, including the number of alleged hostages, how and when they were seized, and how Iraqi police and armed forces are responding.

Abu Musab Zarqawi and his merry band of goatfuckers are once again trying to foment inter-denominational violence in hopes of sparking a civil war in Iraq.  Unfortunately for Mr. Zarcameljockey, the vast majority of Iraqis aren’t buying his particular brand of chickenshit.  Now, you have choices.  You can believe what you are fed through the media, or you can believe what is being written by someone who actually lives there.

Via Iraq The Model:

I’m sure that some "experts" will celebrate this incident and consider it a spark that will ignite the civil war fire they have been hallucinating about.
What such "experts" always fail to notice is that the conflict in Iraq is taking place between the people, the government and the coalition on one side and the extremists and remaining Ba’athists on the other side. It is NOT a people vs. people conflict; it never had and it will never be like that.

I really don’t blame people who live outside Iraq for believing the "experts"; they didn’t live here and they depend on the news to build their opinions.
But I live in Iraq and seen almost every city in it, so I know how thinks work and I know what the people think.
This time, the pathetic terrorists are trying to make it look like a sectarian conflict; it is NOT.

The Iraqis are free.  The Useful Idiots of the world can choose to believe that they are being brutalized at the hands of the Coalition, and that the new, freely elected Iraqi government is a puppet of the U.S.

But not a damn one of them will ever bother to read the likes of Iraq The Model.  Nor would a single one of them have the guts to go to Iraq and see for themselves.  They will, however, march in the streets with megaphones.

And call it courage.

cross posted at Vince Aut Morire