From SLATE, December 9: The [Washington] Post off-leads with news that the White House is looking at three options for a dramatic strategy shift in Iraq, which it plans to unveil before Christmas. Call them "Go Slightly Bigger," "Go Ignore the Insurgency," and "Go Shiite." This is the must-read story of the day. The three options bear little resemblance to the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. They are: a short-term increase of 15,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops, shifting U.S. forces away from "internal strife" and focusing them on fighting al-Qaida, and backing Shiites and Kurds against the Sunnis. Vice President Dick Cheney is apparently in favor of the last option. "A source familiar with the discussions said Cheney argued this week that the United States could not again be seen to abandon the Shiites, Iraq's largest population group, after calling in 1991 for them to rise up against then-President Saddam Hussein and then failing to support them when they did. Thousands were killed in a huge crackdown," the Post says. Guilty conscience? Cheney was secretary of defense then.<
conscience? I doubt that Dick has one of those. meanwhile: >High schools in the South are starting to install luxury boxes in their football stadiums, the WSJ reports. Rental costs up to $4,000 a year. < In the near future, I predict that some Mayan film-maker will produce "Apocalyse," about the final collapse of US civilization. -- Jim Devine / "Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." -- Bertolt Brecht
