The Cat Is Out of the Bag

Bob Woodward's book is substantiating what I have been saying all along--Bush lies, Cheney lies, Condi Rice lies--they all lie. I guess people figure that if someone goes to church they will always tell the truth.
Half truths are the worst, because you cant tell where the lie ends and the truth begins, or vice versa. Like the Administration keeps harping about the Media always reporting the bad and none of the good--what good? If a reporter can't walk down a Baghdad street without getting kidnapped and later getting their heads cut off where is the good?
Then there is the big question about what to do in Iraq? The options are rather limited--we can stay the course and have the whole place blow up in our faces, declare victory and pull out, or give the Iraqi government the option of clamping down on the militias, insurgents, and Al Qaida types or give over security back to the U.S., where we send in another 50,000 troops and squelch the violence--at least from the Iraqis and Arabs.
Genghis Khan is a good example of establishing security. His tactic was simple. Set the rules and ruthlessly, but fairly, enforce them. It is said that a maiden could take a camel train of gold from one end of his domain to the other end without being robbed or molested. Justice was swift and certain. Anyone breaking his laws was relentlessly hunted down and punished.
How tons of shells are being carted around to make bombs is beyond my comprehension. That requires vehicles large enough to move them and people handling them. Curfews, dead zones, ferreting out weapons caches, etc. would do a lot towards stopping the making and placing of bombs. That requires more control and action, which means more troops. The "staying the course" strategy just means more troops being killed and more violence.