Quotes of the Morning: Standards

“A car bomb killed at least 35 people and wounded 80 on Sunday next to a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad which has been a repeated target of attacks blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.”
-Reuters, May 6, 2007

“Hey, those people don’t count! Those Iraqis died in bombings, and, as we all know, if they die in a bombing they don’t count as ‘secular killings’. They’re just, you know, dead.
It isn’t like we aren’t paying attention at all though. I mean, the Iraqi government is doing everything that it can to keep doctors in place to deal with the injured.”
-Skippy

“Iraq is hemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nation. To stem the flow, the Iraqi government has recently taken a cue from Saddam Hussein: Medical schools are once again forbidden to issue diplomas and transcripts to new graduates.
Hussein built a fine medical system in part by withholding doctors' passports and diplomas. Although physicians can work in Iraq with a letter from a medical school verifying their graduation, they say they need certificates and transcripts to work abroad.”
-Washington Post, May 5, 2007

“See? We’re willing to use whatever methods are needed, even if it does sound like our moral superiority in the war is being a little tainted…”
-Skippy

“More than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.
In addition, about two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed said they would not report a team member for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. ‘Less than half of soldiers and Marines believed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect,’ the Army report stated.”
-Washington Post, May 5, 2007

“We’re much better than Saddam though because we.. um.. torture.. Abu Ghraib.. civilian reprisals.. ok, you’ve got me there. Oops! Forgot one. We are better than Saddam because he was doing what the terrorists wanted instead of fighting them! That’s why we attacked.. because of the War on Terror!”
-Skippy

“In a new video posted today on the Internet, al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al Zawahiri, mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq.
‘This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap,’ Zawahiri says in answer to a question posed to him an interviewer.
Continuing in the same tone, Zawahiri says, ‘We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson.’"
-ABC News, May 5, 2007

“Hmm.. So al Qaeda wants us to stay in Iraq too. Wow. That’s a toughie. Maybe we should examine how things are going over there and then see if we should stay.”
-Skippy

"Over the course of the next three to four months, we'll have some idea how well the plan's working. Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts."
-House Republican Leader John Boehner, May 6, 2007

“Exactly! All we need is another three or four months. You know, somehow this all sounds very familiar.”
-Skippy

“I think it will be rather clear in the next 60 to 90 days as to whether this plan is going to work. And, again, that's why we need to have close oversight, so that we just don't look up 60 or 90 days from now and realize that -- that this plan is not working. We need to know, as we -- as we're -- we move through these benchmarks, that the Iraqis are doing what they have to do.”
-House Republican Leader John Boehner, January 23, 2007

“Oh, I guess that’s why. Still, we’re doing what we can, and I’m sure that the Iraqi government is trying its darnedest to get things in shape for the day in which we can finally leave.”
-Skippy

“Lawmakers divided over whether to keep U.S. troops in Iraq are finding common ground on at least one topic: They are furious that Iraqi politicians are considering a lengthy break this summer.
`If they go off on vacation for two months while our troops fight - that would be the outrage of outrages,' said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn.
The Iraq parliament's recess, starting this July, would likely come without Baghdad politicians reaching agreements considered key to easing sectarian tensions. Examples include regulating distribution of the country's oil wealth and reversing measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs and government positions because of Baath party membership.”
-Associated Press, May 3, 2007

“The Parliament will apparently be taking a little time off to clear brush on the ranch.”
-Skippy