Iraqi Army Taking Charge

Well, that was some ceremony in Najaf, Bush--the one I read about in the New York Times yesterday. "As soldiers paraded past a reviewing grandstand," read the Times report, "commandos with their faces blackened gathered for a demonstration of their courage. Each man reached into his pocket, pulled out a frog, and bit its head off. They threw the squirming legs to the ground as the group's leader held aloft a live rabbit. He slit the belly and plunged his mouth into the gash. The carcass was then passed around to the rest of the soldiers, who took their own bites." Witnesses were told, the report continues, by way of hasty explanation, "that the practice was especially popular among Saddam Hussein's feared Fedayeen militias, whose members had done the same things with live snakes and wolves."

That's progress, Bush, no? That Iraqi military really beginning to step up to the plate. Frogs and rabbits, eh? Who knows but that they might soon be polishing off those insurgents--though not, we hope in the same way. And the report did give me something of an inspiration, Bush, to help you on your "new way forward." How would it be, when you give that speech you're planning in January, if you pulled a frog out of you pocket and... well, you know. In front of the live television audience. I mean, that would be a more than adequate demonstration of your macho, no? Worth a try.

That's all for today, Bush. Cardozo cannily suggested posting a picture of the above, and I was tickled by the idea. Not surprisingly, I was unable to find one, even on the Internet. Who knows, perhaps I just didn't look far enough. But curiously, as I googled, I did come across this report from your Department of Defense, describing a parade to celebrate the Iraqi army taking charge at Najaf--in September, 2005! History does have a way of repeating itself, it seems. But perhaps they forgot the frogs and rabbits back then. This time, for sure, it will work like a charm.