Iraq News (22 April)

The Good: Currently, there is a conference going on in Kuwait with Iraq and all of its neighbors, which Condi (Secretary of State) is attending. Prime Minister Maliki is calling for debt relief and more help to curb terrorism in Iraq (Reuters has the highlights of his speech). Seems like he may have taken a subtle swipe at Iran when he called for the neighboring countries to do more to strengthen their borders to prevent terrorists from streaming across the border, but it was probably directed at Saudi Arabia or Syria. The politics of this part of the world continues to befuddle me at times, and I just hope people stop shooting each other so we can leave and the Iraqis can have some semblance of peace.

The Bad: A female suicide bomber has killed 4 Sahwa members in Baqubah. This comes at a time when Al-Qaeda guy #2, Zawahiri, has called for Muslims to hurry to Iraq for the battlefields of Jihad, citing an "imminent victory". The fact that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is using female suicide bombers in their brutal campaign highlights a certain sense of desperation and not much of a "glorious jihad". Two US soldiers were killed in Salah ad-Din province.

The Ugly: Mastermind of the brutal "Anfal Campaign", which massacred thousands of Kurds in the 80s, has gone on hunger strike while awaiting the gallows, which will ensure his executioners have an easy time getting the rope around his skinny neck...I guess. Chemical Ali, you're an asshole! Also, SECDEF has chastised the Air Force for dragging ass in getting their UAVs off the ground. Gates is pissed because he believes some of the brass still think we're fighting the cold-war against those darn commies. Usually, things like this wouldn't be said in such a public manner with the press lurking, which indicates that the SECDEF is really, really pissed at the Air Force (don't worry zoomies, LT Nixon still loves you).

Who would've thought being on Death Row would be bad for your nutritional health