Shades of Amara

A little over a month ago, militias ran amok in Amara and showed the world that the coallition forces really don't have much control or say in how the hand plays out, and if Sadr want's chaos, chaos will ensue.

Today, we learned that Baqouba has been shut down, due to fierce fighting between insurgents and coallition forces. Schools and stores are closed, streets are deserted and violence flares.

And more and more, the U.S. military is repositioning to Baghdad, in an effort to quell the violence and prop up the nascent government. God damnit I can't help but see a Fall of Saigon moment and one last huey off of a rooftop in the green zone. I see the green zone over run. I see chaos and plunder and gory bloody death in the cradle of civilization. I hope I'm just paranoid and wrong. I also hope I get a pony for Christmas.

We have been there longer than we were involved in World War II. We have spent nearly $350 Billion dollars, and what have we accomplished? The conviction of a dictator in a show-trial and a sectarian civil war in a formerly stable and secular arab country, whether the president says we can call it that or not?

I'm glad I have finals to take my mind off this madness and I am glad I'm iced in. As long as I can make coffee and study, I'll eventually get my head around how fucked up everything is and get back on the horse. But right now, pardon me while I descend into a brown study. As a wise man once said, "Look what the Decider decided to do."