Credibility Chasm

In the apparently casket-free war, here's what has happened during the past few days:

1. Eleven U.S. troops were killed on Thursday, including two in pacified Fallujah.
2. Another five troops were killed over the weekend, including three more in pacified Fallujah.
3. A Blackhawk chopper either crashed or was shot down, killing another twelve troops.
4. A U.S. journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad, and her translator was shot and killed.
5. Hundreds more Iraqi civilians were killed.

Here's the link to the current casualty count, which as of now stands at 2,190 confirmed dead and twenty "pending DoD confirmation." That "pending" number has been staying consistently high.

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson's explanation: "Desperate people are dangerous people." Which leads to the operative question: how much more of their desperation can we take?

The band plays on, though. In addition to the endless stream of captured "trusted lieutenants" and "executive secretaries" to Zarqawi, here's a sample of the news that continues to come out of Centcom during this carnage:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IRAQI CITIZEN HELPS COALITION FORCES

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A local national identified a home in east Baghdad that was being used as a factory to make improvised rocket-launchers.

At about 6:30 p.m. elements of 3rd squadron, 7th Cavalry, raided the home and discovered 15 rocket-launchers were in the process of being built and one 57 millimeter rocket was completed and ready to be fired. No one was present in the home at the time of the raid.

"It is encouraging that the Iraqi citizens are continuing to choose the side of the new government over the terrorists. The Iraqi citizens know that providing information against the terrorists to Coalition or Iraqi Security Forces will help to improve the security situation in their neighborhoods," said Col. Joseph DiSalvo, commander of Coalition Forces in east Baghdad.

All equipment in the home was seized and will be used as evidence against the homeowners when they are caught. Iraqi Security Forces are continuing the search.

Life increasingly imitating art---or in this case, Full Metal Jacket:

LOCKHART: "Not While We're Eating--N.V.A. learn marines on a search and destroy mission don't like to be interrupted while eating chow."Search and destroy. Uh, we have a new directive from M.A.F. on this. In the future, in place of"search and destroy," substitute the phrase "sweep and clear." Got it?

JOKER: Got it. Very catchy.

LOCKHART: And, Joker... where's the weenie?

JOKER: Sir!

LOCKHART: The Kill, JOKER. The kill. I mean, all that fire, the grunts must've hit something.

JOKER: Didn't see 'em.

LOCKHART: Joker, I've told you, we run two basic stories here. Grunts who give half their pay to buy gooks toothbrushes and deodorants--Winning of Hearts and Minds--okay? And combat action that results in a kill--Winning the War. Now you must have seen blood trails... drag marks?

JOKER: It was raining, sir.

LOCKHART: Well, that's why God passed the law of probability. Now rewrite it and give it a happy ending--say, uh, one kill. Make it a sapper or an officer. Which?

JOKER: Whichever you say.

LOCKHART: Grunts like reading about dead officers.

JOKER: Okay, an officer. How about a general?

LOCKHART: Joker, maybe you'd like our guys to read the paper and feel bad. I mean, in case you didn't know it, this is not a particularly popular war. Now, it is our job to report the news that these why-are-we-here civilian newsmen ignore.