Iraq Sets A Dubious Record
As of today, Iraq has distinguished itself, though not in a good way:
BAGHDAD – Iraq on Friday will surpass the record for the country that has gone the longest between holding parliamentary elections and forming a government, experts say.
The Netherlands had held that unfortunate honor after a series of failed attempts left the country without an elected government for 207 days in 1977, according to Christopher J. Anderson, director of the Institute for European Studies at Cornell University.
On Friday, Iraqis will have spent 208 days with no new government and, while the Dutch weathered their storm, Iraq’s weak institutions may not hold up against mounting pressure and a steady level of violence.
Indeed.
Woodward was on Matthews yesterday. I forced myself to listen to the bad news
Heh, I took a shot at embedding the video. That didn’t fly. Instead:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/39447497#39447497
Also, I’d suggest that anyone who isn’t too far gone with Matthews as a leg-tingling Marxist, to watch this one too. In it he and former President Clinton talk about barbell politics, how rightists show up on Fox, and yes, how leftists show up on MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/39446952#39446952
Er…you mean we’ve destabilized Iraq Doug? You mean that once we took the insurgents off the payroll they’ve gone into business again? How surprising.