images

Hey Watch, I Can Do Tricks!

Originally uploaded by B.A.R Images

Too damn cute.

I certainly hope not:

The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture.

The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce.

"Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."

Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

These are the kind of stories getting buried by today's news of election coverage, but it needs to be brought up. Iraq is not a success - far from it. It's a serious problem the next President will have to deal with. Do we want McCain doing that? He is one that thinks everything is going great.

Looks like Rudy may be breaking Pentagon rules by using Petraeus' image in his ads:

Images of Gen. David Petraeus appeared in an ad the Giuliani campaign began running yesterday attacking Hillary Clinton. The Pentagon says the use of the Petraeus images was done without Petraeus' consent. Military personnel are barred by Pentagon regulations from appearing in political ads in uniform. Greg has more at Election Central.

If Rudy is so quick to demand people denouncing actions of political groups, then why didn't he denounce the Swift Boaters in 2004? Is this just another one of Rudy's double standards, or was he too busy on the lecture circuit, making his money, to worry about people who have served our nation? Remember - a vote for Rudy is a vote for Bush.