The Good: 30 terrorist thugs have been detained in Diyala province by Iraqi and US forces. The arrests were in Balad Ruz, which saw a horribly barbaric double suicide-bombing last week. The spokesman for the Baghdad security plan announced that Iraqi police killed 10 criminals in Baghdad during operations. It's no secret that infrastructure in Baghdad is in the shits due to decades of Ba'ath Party rule followed by a war where the enemy deliberately targets services for Iraqis. But here's an article from Reuters about improving water availability to the citizens in eastern Baghdad.
The Bad: Turns out an ex-detainee of Gitmo came to Iraq and blew himself up. He was from Kuwait, which is rare, since most foreign fighters are Saudi, Libyan, Egyptian, and Syrian based on the Sinjar records that got publicly released last year. To my buddy who works at Gitmo and sometimes reads this blog for the occasional midget porn clip: what the hell, dude?!? People are fleeing Sadr City due to the combat operations in the militia-infested district, but the government is trying to get them set up in football stadiums.
The Ugly: Marriott is considering building a massive hotel in Baghdad's Green Zone (sometimes called the IZ). And, guess what, the president of the Marriott advises the Bush administration on trade issues! That's not a conflict of interest or anything (sarc). Also, the Iranian media is freaking out that John Bolton has called for possible military action against Iran. I still think a military strike against Iran would be nothing short of a fiasco at this stage of the game, and we should consider other "soft" options. Especially when the Iraqi Foreign Minister is trying to get US and Iran to hold diplomatic talks. But what the fuck do I know, I'm way low on the feeding chain.
Soldiers as Diplomats and Urban Planners (from Reuters) 
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