War News to Make Your Head Explode

Apart from the continuing increase in the US death toll in Iraq, as Our Dear Decidin' Leader keeps on keepin' on, what else is going on?

Well for starters there's this article found in the BBC:

Sunni militants are being armed with Iranian-made munitions, US military spokesman Maj Gen William Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad. These include mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades, he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government in mainly Shia Iran which has been accused of arming fellow Shia militants in Iraq in the past.


Shia Iran is giving munitions to Sunni Iraqi insurgents? When it's well known that Shia and Sunni loathe each other? I suppose it's possible, but it's a bit too convenient, what with three aircraft carrier battle groups in the area and the neocons festering to add yet another military debacle to their stats.

And then there's the article in today's Washington Post about the search by the White House for a "war czar." According to the article, the czar would be an advisor to the President who could issue orders to the Departments of State and Defense in order to coordinate their efforts and prosecute the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more effectively.

That's all well and good, except for two little problems.

No one wants the job. Several retired generals have been approached (including Jack Keane who, along with armchair general Kagan masterminded the present escalation), and so far all have declined. There's a good reason for that - they're sane.

The other problem is that the Constitution, Federal law and tradition have already placed someone in the position of mediating between Defense and State and is charged with the prosecution of war. The Constitution dignifies that person with the title Commander-in-Chief, and is the President.

One wonders why this is even being considered, except as a scapegoat position to allow Bush to escape the latest in a long line of miserable failures.