Just another day in the life and death of Iraq LXXIX -- plus, the lies and (self-)delusions of Cheney and McCain

By Michael J.W. Stickings

McCain, Graham, and Lieberman arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, a trio of (self-)delusion, cheerleading the war and occupation, avoiding certain neighbourhoods, promoting McCain's presidential bid while masquerading as a congressional delegation, and generally trying to make it seem like the surge is working and all is going well, more or less, much more than less, for they seem to believe it to be true, or to have convinced themselves that it is true, that their (self-)delusions are genuine glimpses of reality, actual truth and actual reality to the contrary.

Cheney arrived in Baghdad on Monday, met with Crocker, Petraeus, and Maliki, and, the personification of (self-)delusion of an even more arrogant and self-righteous variety, used words like "phenomenal" and "remarkable" to describe the situation in Iraq at the moment. He also claimed, once again, that there was "a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda" before the U.S. invasion, a claim all the more silly (and (self-)delusional) now that the Pentagon itself has finally determined otherwise. He may believe some of it to be true -- how well things are going, how there was that link, how he's right and everyone's wrong, no matter what -- but he is nothing if not a bald-faced liar.

Yes, five years into the war and the lies and deceptions keep coming.

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Meanwhile, happy talk aside, truth and reality hit hard again yesterday:

A bombing on Monday evening killed 43 people near the Imam Hussein shrine in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, penetrating one of the most secure perimeters in Iraq. Iraqi police officers at the scene and several witnesses said it had been carried out by a female suicide bomber, but the police chief later said the bomb had been hidden.

And that wasn't all:

In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a mortar attack by unidentified insurgents killed five people and wounded seven on a football pitch.

Earlier in the day, bombs in and around the city killed at least two Iraqi civilians and two US soldiers.

Phenomenal, huh? Go to hell, Cheney, and take all your warmongering pals with you.