but the voice-with-a-smile of democracy
announces night & day
'all poor little peoples that want to be free
just trust in the u s a'

e.e. cummings, 'Thanksgiving (1956)'

We in Iraq are losing our minds. War does that to people, even to us in the North who have yet to see one. All that we have observed are B52s roaring through the skies to bomb cities south of here and a sideshow offensive to eradicate Islamic fundamentalists from the hills along the Iranian border. Oh, yes, the Iraqi Army did withdraw from the Kirkuk front into Kirkuk itself without a fight. Not much, compared to the madness in the South, but enough for us to share the insanity.

LRB 17 April 2003 | PDF Download