The Pendragon's Hall

The NYT details President Bush's determination to withdraw US troops if the new Iraqi government asks him to. The media report this as if it were news. What they don't point out is that terror attacks have not ceased with this. If these people really were the "freedom fighters" we hear so much about, only troubled by the fact of US occupation, wouldn't they now be lining up to vote in a government that will do that? The fact that they are still under arms and leading attacks demonstrates, although not the clod-heads at the NYT, that the terrorists, like President Bush, are confident that the newly-elected government of Iraq will ask the Americans to stay.

Other news: female interrogators have been using sexual ploys such as smearing fake menstrual blood on Muslim terrorists to loosen them up. One, it is reported, "broke down bawling" after this happened. The girl's response? "Have fun in your room tonight with no water to wash yourself in." What can I say? She's got class. The press, of course, wants to drum up sympathy for the terrorists and so they talk to prison guards who are apparently "disillusioned" and discouraged about the so-called "torture." Hey, guys. It works. It breaks their spirits. And it is illustrative of one of the oldest quips from your parents: You behave like animals; you'll be treated like animals.