At least 122 Iraqi police recruits and others have been killed in a suicide bombing in Hilla south of Baghdad. The New York Times article goes on to note that

Many attacks have been similar to the one in Hilla, with bombers steering their vehicles into crowds of hopeful applicants gathered outside Iraqi police stations and national guard compounds.

So much for our ability to provide security for the Iraqi police and national guard. So much for the ability of Iraqi police and national guard to provide security for their own recruits. According to American officials, at least 1,300 "Iraqi security officers" have been killed in such attacks, not including today's carnage. The frequency of these kinds of attacks and our inability to prevent them highlights just how preposterous the Bush Administration claims about the number of Iraqi police and national guard units trained and equipped are.

Of course, we need to remember that as Paul Wolfowitz reminded the U.S. Senate, "Democracy is a messy thing." Or as Rummy, Grand Duke of Freedom, so famously said, "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." So what we have in Hilla and elsewhere is just the normal sort of stuff that happens when you have freedom and democracy. It's not a country spinning out of control. It's not a foreign policy failure. It's just freedom and democracy. Let freedom Reign!
posted by Idle Crank at 2/28/2005 03:43:00 PM