US calls for removal of Iraqi leader...

... except THIS TIME, he's the democratically chosen one. Chosen by the process in which this government has invested thousands of lives, limbs, and billions of dollars. From the Judy Miller, wiretap burying, red sox owning times:

"The prime minister made his remarks in an hourlong interview at his home, a Saddam Hussein-era palace with an artificial lake at the heart of the fortified Green Zone. He spoke in a languorous manner, relaxing in a black pinstripe suit in a dim ground-floor office lined with Arabic books like the multivolume "World of Civilizations."
"There was a stand from both the American government and President Bush to promote a democratic policy and protect its interests," he said, sipping from a cup of boiled water mixed with saffron. "But now there's concern among the Iraqi people that the democratic process is being threatened."
"The source of this is that some American figures have made statements that interfere with the results of the democratic process," he added. "These reservations began when the biggest bloc in Parliament chose its candidate for prime minister."

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Ah, gotta love the elementary school reporting. Who cares if he spoke languorously in a black suit or in staccato bursts in khakis?

But seriously, this piece (which I'm sure has been knocked off the front page by the time you read it) brings home Helen Thomas's point even harder. If there are no weapons, if there are no ties between Saddam's govt and Al Qaida, if there's no emminent threat to us, and if we're not respecting the democratic decisions of the Iraqi people, why are people dying for this?

Now to be fair, I don't know Jaafari, or his politics, all that well. But how can we justify the enormous price we've paid, as families, as friends, as people who have watched thousands die between Iraq and the fact that we were stretched too thin to handle Katrina, when we're getting no results? What, does Chucklenutz keep requesting people step down until they pick a former oil exec (it worked for Afghanistan)? Although, as a friend from the Nuyo once said, "I hear she's dealing again."

One additional note from Jaafari's comments: His quote in the second paragraph mentions that the US Government and President Bush were out to protect both a democratic policy and its own interests. But chucklenutz's actions around this again pull up the curtain on his real intent. Stop lying to us and tell us why. Look Helen Thomas in the face. Hell, look at any of the families who have kids wrapped in an American Flag or at Walter Reade. Look at the people of New Orleans. Look someone in the face and tell them why. Maybe the truth will set you free.