exceptions to the rule

The Australian kidnapped in Iraq has been rescued. The French journalist who had been held for five months was released this week.

That's about the full extent of the good news from Iraq this week. In other news, the number of US troops killed there passed 1700. It seems like only yesterday (it was in the lead-up to the presidential election, I remember) that it passed 1000. That's 700 more Americans killed for no good reason and an unknown number of Iraqis maimed and killed in the same time.

The situation in Iraq is catastrophic. Tom Engelhardt and Jonathan Schell outline the scale of the disaster.