"Ever since the occupation started, the situation in Iraq has steadily and relentlessly deteriorated: This is the undeniable truth, which only blatant liars like those in Washington can deny, insisting that the situation is improving in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary. Iraq is caught in a vicious circle: The occupation fuels the insurgency, which stirs up the sectarian tension that Washington's proconsul strives to fan by political means, which in turn is used to justify the continuing occupation. The latest major way in which U.S. occupation authorities are throwing oil on the Iraqi fire, according to Shiite sources, is by helping the Islamic Party -- the Iraqi Arab Sunni group closest to Washington and to the Saudis -- build an armed wing that is already taking part in the sectarian feud. "There is no way out of this burning circle but one: Only by announcing immediately the total and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops can a decisive step be taken toward putting out the fire. This would cool down the Sunni insurgency that the Association of Muslim Scholars has repeatedly pledged to call to a halt as soon as a timetable for the withdrawal of occupation troops is announced. It would dampen as well the sectarian tension, as Iraqis will then look squarely at their future and feel compelled to reach a way to coexist peacefully. And if ever they came to the conclusion that they needed a foreign presence for a while to help them restore order and start real reconstruction, it should definitely not be one composed of troops from countries that harbor hegemonic ambitions over Iraq, but one that is welcomed by all segments of the Iraqi people as friendly and disinterested help." - - - Gilbert Achcar

But of course we will have to wait for Bush-war to finish his second term in January, 2009. That means something like 50-100,000 additional Iraqi civilians are doomed to die needlessly. Every drop of their blood will forever be on the gutter-scraping hands of The Decider, Shooter, and Dumbsfeld.

And of course we are all going to continue sitting here, typing and complaining, but doing nothing of substance because we are all lazy, guiltless Progressives of Inaction. If we truly didn't believe that we were better than Iraqis, then we wouldn't be doing nothing.

You'll never convince an Iraqi that your contribution of $50 to a Progressive candidate's campaign is in fact helping the former. Actively pursuing your elected officials to start withdrawing American GIs, maybe.