I bow to proof

From the CPA briefing December 30...

The causes [of black market profiteering and smuggling] , as we have said before and as the Ministry of Oil has said before, primarily include two elements, one being the increase in demand, almost a quarter-million new cars in Iraq since the fall of the former regime, in part based on the lifting of customs, and also in part there's this new infusion of cash, higher salaries in the economy.

That is definitely a measure of progress - a quarter-million new cars.

And General Kimmit gets his turn at the podium:

First, on behalf of the coalition, let me start by offering our condolences to the nations of Bulgaria, Poland, Thailand and Iraq for the losses suffered in the wake of the criminal attack in Karbala. This cowardly attack on the citizens of Karbala and the coalition forces serving there to maintain security was heinous and senseless.

Obligatory b.s. Heinous and senseless. That might be said of the entire coalition position as well. If General Kimmitt were in charge of an army of resisters in their home country, he might have a different description of the attack. Don't people ever get tired of seeing a situation from just one side? Don't they get bored with the view? I guess that's his job, huh?

In the northern zone of operations, coalition forces conducted a series of cordon-and-search operations against brigade targets. The first operation took place in southwest Mosul, where initial questioning indicated that this was a possible safe house for terrorist activities. The second operation killed three enemy personnel, and three individuals, including two coalition targets, were detained. Other operations resulted in the capture of three additional targets, including an associate of a ranking high-value target.

Dehumanize the enemy. They are targets, not people. Targets.

A possible safe house. We have been razing the country on the basis of eliminating every possible safe house and every suspected gathering place. That will nicely cover anything. It has even included orchards and trees. Some times I think the only reason we don't pull out all the "boots on the ground" and just lay waste from the air to the entire country is that we couldn't protect the oil works. Otherwise, we could just give all the Iraqis five minutes to get out of the way, like we do when we destroy their homes. That should also take care of any targets.

Demonstrating a complete disregard for noncombatants, terrorists detonated a booby trap in Baghdad on Sunday, killing one coalition soldier, two Iraqi children, wounding five coalition soldiers and eight Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers.

Yes, that is the pot calling the kettle black.

Q Tom Frank from Newsday. I just wanted to follow up on the police question. I hear some Iraqis saying two things. One is, they want more police, because obviously security is a big concern. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the full figure will be 71,000 for the entire country.

MR. SENOR: It's a little higher than that. It's between 75,000 and 80,000, but, yeah.

Q Okay. My paper publishes in New York City, a city of 8 million people with 40,000 police. I'm wondering why so few police? And secondly, I understand a lot of the police now are people who were police when Saddam was in power. I'm wondering if you know about how many of the police are, you know, veterans from the prewar period, and if there's any concern about having those people, because there was some, I guess, pretty widespread corruption in those days. So, the two questions.

MR. SENOR: Sure. Your comparison to New York City isn't entirely applicable because we also have these other security forces at work that would tend to address some of the security issues that occur in New York City. We have the Facilities Protection Service that's protecting the infrastructure of the country. As I said, we have the new Iraqi army, members of which are already being deployed. And we have the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps that are working hand in hand -- approximately -- over 14,000 of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps working hand in hand with the American security forces. So, we have a number of Iraqi security forces deployed doing the work, not just the police force.

Will that be a democratic and free country - where the armed forces are used to police the civilians? Hmmmm...

To your second question, yes, we are recruiting Iraqis for police training, some of whom who served in former security forces of the former regime and some who are brand new. Those that served in the Iraqi police force go through what we call the TIP (sp) program, which is a transition training police program. It's a program we bring them in and teach them the skills that they didn't learn under the former regime; basic things like policing with basic restrictions for human rights, and professional investigative skills, and the high standards of professionalism operating in a democratic society.

Well, that should be sufficient. (Mr. Senor calls it "de-Ba'athifciation".) And I guess we can determine from that then, that the only reason Saddam's "security forces" were the beasts they were, was because they simply did not have the proper training in investigative techniques and human rights.

Bridge anyone?

Back to General Kimmit:

Do we fully understand where Saddam fit in? We're putting that puzzle together. We don't think, as some have speculated, that he was the central figure managing the entire anti-coalition operation, nor do we believe that he was simply sitting in a hole waiting for somebody to come and capture him.

Really? I thought that's what they were telling us is exactly what he was doing. The cowardly, unkempt rat.

MR. SENOR: Ambassador Bremer is committed to implementing the November 15th agreement. All our indications are the Governing Council is equally committed to implementing the November 15th agreement. If they choose to engage with other leaders and individuals within Iraqi society, all the power to them. I mean, you know, this process is something that can be accomplished in a free society. A healthy, vibrant, if not at times controversial, dialogue is a critical component of this process. So we encourage debate. We encourage discussion. There was a town hall meeting held yesterday in Basra, in which the governor of Basra was one of the key participants, where they had a very lively debate about the political process. We hope there will be debates like that all over the country.

Yes, he is talking about Iraq. Not America. So don't get excited.

Besides, debate all you want. The big gun wins.