Brains: Pay Attention To Iraq Again.

[elfs]

18 people killed in double bomb attack in Baghdad.

An attack in Baghdad Wednesday night left 18 people dead and "dozens" wounded.

I bring this up only to point out that those who think we're "winning" in Iraq should think twice.

35 Iraqi Ministry Officials Arrested, Charged with Attempted Coup

35 members of the Iraqi Goverment, most of them from the Ministry of the Interior, with at least one of general rank, have been arrested. Senior officials within al-Maliki's goverment say that those arrested were members of al Awad, meaning "The Return," an outlawed party intent on bringing back Baathism.

We still have troops all over that country, and plotting a "coup" against the US-backed al-Maliki government would be insane. Baghdad observers think it's more likely that al-Maliki was sending a signal that he is not to be defied.

Great. So we went from a strongman to a strongman.

Iraq's leading women's right activist beheaded

Gunmen stormed the house of Nahla Hussain, a women's rights activist, and beheaded her. The killing may have been politically motivated; Hussain was Iraq's leading women's rights activist, but she was also a leading figure in the country's Communist party, which is challenging al-Maliki's authority over the Kurdish regions in upcoming elections.

Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq

The very fact that McClathy can keep a daily record of the bombings, kidnappings, murders and beheadings shows that Iraq is far from an "ordinary" country.

Obama to Cheney: Close this!

Dick Cheney the other day, along with admitting to authorizing war crimes, said that "Obama will likely find it very difficult to close Guantanamo Bay prison."

Obama has not only re-iterated his position to close it down, but now Robert Gates has directed the Pentagon to come up with plans for what to when (not if) Obama does so.

Schadenfreude: Levi Johnston's mother arrested on drug manufacturing charge

Just when we thought we were rid of the entire Palin saga, the aftershocks just keep coming. The mother of Levi "Sex on Ice" Johnston (the unwed father of teenage Bristol Palin's baby) has been arrested, allegedly for manufacturing drugs in her home.

When Sarah Palin left her position as mayor of Wasilla, it had two distinctions: its first budget deficit in history, and the highest methamphetamine use in the state.