Real Kato Blog: The Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Disaster

Boy, we've really stepped in it this time. Are there still folks out there who don't believe that the world hates us?

First, I have to confess to feeling a bit of schadenfreude for President Bush... the story about the Iraqi prisoners is terrible, but it is oh-so-fun to watch Bush dance.

So I guess we can no longer claim the moral high-ground over the "brown" people. That had become our theme, right, after not finding any WMDs? We would free the Iraqis from the totalitarian abuse of Saddam Hussein. Message to Iraqi people: say good-bye to the frying pan, say hello to the fire.

We'd like to say that it's just a few bad apples. That's what all the higher-ups are saying, right? It's not reflective of our philosophy. Funny how the Muslim world says that too.

Rumsfeld did a good thing by taking responsibility for the abuses and apologizing for it. Of course Bush didn't do anything like that. And no one has apologized for making a mess of Iraq and our world relations.

So now Bush wants an additional $25 billion to sustain the troop effort in Iraq. And surely, if anyone votes against that money, he (that is to say, "John Kerry") will be labeled "bad for our troops, bad for our country". Mind you, that $25 billion is just something to tide us over until after the elections. Also keep in mind that we have the worst budget deficits in history, and that's pressuring the Fed to raise interest rates, and that's making my stocks plummet. Why aren't Republicans outraged about this too?

It's like we're in a street gang and we started a fight in a biker bar. We destroyed the entire bar, and instead of just paying the bar owner some money and leaving, we stay and try to clean things up ourselves. But we keep getting into more fights and breaking more things. What we should do is give the $25 billion to the U.N. and then get out. We don't have the ability to make things right, and no one wants us to try.

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