Going to Hell in a Handbag

Sorry that it's been over a week since I last posted, but I've been busy.

The big story recently has been what is happening in Iraq. We seem to be reaching a real turning point. High military officials in Great Britain are expressing extreme dissatisfaction with what has happened in Iraq and its effects on Afghanistan, and the British government has made an announcement to the effect that it wants to be out of Iraq within the year. Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells said, as reported in The Guardian newspaper, that "I would have thought, certainly in a year or so there will be adequately trained Iraqi soldiers and security forces...in order to do the job." One suspects that the newspaper omitted some following statement along the lines of "Please God let there be adequate forces!"

Meanwhile, the American government is trying to pressure the Iraqi government into providing better security, with the possibility of sanctions unless certain goals are met. (What are we going to do? Invade them again?) On the whole, it looks like the end might be in sight.

I will be writing more about what I foresee as the potential consequences of this debacle in the near future.