A Coney Island of the Mind

Unfinished Flag, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The first plane to hit the first Twin Tower
The last plane to hit the last Twin Tower
The only plane to ever hit the Pentagon
The birth of a vast national paranoia
The beginning of the Third World War
(the War Against the Third World)
--from Totalitarian Democracy, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Television interviewer: How do you account for the
fact that the bombing campaign has been going on for
thirteen years?
Mr. Helpmann: Beginners' luck.
--Brazil (1985)

Always look on the bright side of life
--song, The Life of Brian
___________

The title of this bit is from an old collection of Lawrence Ferlinghetti poems. Ferlinghetti, son of immigrant parents, served as a U.S. Navy ship's commander in WW II. (See City Light's site for more Ferlinghetti.)

The AP reported recently General David Petraeus has cited some progress in the two months since the troop increase began (''Iraq Needs Enormous Commitment''):

''He said sectarian killings have declined--aided by construction of walls around some neighborhoods--while a number of markets are reviving, amusement parks are busy and some Iraqis are returning to their homes'' (''Iraq Needs Enormous Commitment.''

Am I the only one who finds the concept of amusement parks in Baghdad mind-blowing?

If the concept of gated communities being transferred from Westchester County to Baghdad was not enough, now we hear the amusement park business is booming. As though it weren't enough for your average Iraqi to sit bemused watching the changing of the guards at the entrance to these new islands in the emerald city, now they can go to actual amusement parks. I look for a burgeoning art movement next--Iraqi surrealismo.

Petraeus also said he had given a memo to Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on how the U.S. should measure progress in Iraq:

''Petraeus said the draft proposes evaluating four areas: security, economics, politics and governance, and the rule of law. The specifics, he said, include progress by the Iraqi security forces, how well the Iraqi government is spending its budget on capital improvements and construction, whether banks are reopening, progress on key legislation, and development of the justice system and detention facilities.''

However, the Department of Defense and Petraeus are not the proper tools with which to evaluate economics, politics and governance. It would be nice if DoD concentrated on soldierly skills, and let the State Department do its job as mandated by U.S. policy.

News flash: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is not the Secretary of State.