Republicans Anonymous

I expect Dick Cheney will be vacationing here. I mean, how could he resist?

I cannot believe this level of pure hypocrisy is being reported without more comment:

Challenge for U.S.: Iraq's Handling of Detainees
New York Times
By EDWARD WONG
CAMP JUSTICE, Iraq — The blindfolded detainees in the dingy hallway line up in groups of five for their turn to see a judge, like schoolchildren outside the principal's office.

Each meeting lasts a few minutes. The judge rules whether the detainee will go free, face trial or be held longer at this Iraqi base in northern Baghdad. But Firas Sabri Ali, squeezed into a fetid cell just hundreds of yards from the judge's office, has watched the inmates come and go for four months without his name ever being called.
...
Such is the challenge facing the American military as it tries to train the Iraqi security forces to respect the rule of law. Three years after the invasion of Iraq, American troops are no longer simply teaching counterinsurgency techniques; they are trying to school the Iraqis in battling a Sunni-led rebellion without resorting to the tactics of a "dirty war," involving abductions, torture and murder.

The legacy of Abu Ghraib hampers the American military. The legacy of Abu Ghraib hampers the American military. But the need to instill respect for human rights has gained a new urgency as Iraq grapples with the threat of full-scale civil war and continuing sectarian bloodletting. It is not uncommon now for dozens of bodies, with hands bound and gunshot wounds to the heads, to surface across Baghdad on any given day.

The Americans are pushing the Shiite-dominated Iraqi forces to ask judges for arrest warrants, restrain their use of force and ensure detainees' rights.
(Emphasis added.)

Interestingly, W and his Bush League minions think asking US Judges for warrants is impractical in a post 9/11 world. The Bush League wants to lock up "enemy combatants" forever with no judicial review.

The phrase "recent surge of violence" has replaced "turning the corner" as the lead chiché in Iraq War reporting. EarlG of DemocraticUnderground.com notes this phrase has been used since 2003:

This morning I learned that Pentagon officials have said that force levels in Iraq would not be cut "anytime soon," apparently because of a "recent surge in violence" sweeping Iraq. But what struck me most about that news was votesomemore's response in this thread claiming that, "There is ALWAYS a 'recent surge in violence.'"

That got me thinking. Is there always a "recent surge in violence" in Iraq? I Googled the phrase, and discovered that the answer to the question is, well, yes.
(Source: Democratic Underground post "Recent Surge of Violence, March 4, 2006)

Thesaurus, anyone?