Man on the Rum

I started my morning with this image from the frontpage of the Los Angeles Times.





The man cowering on the floor was one of 3 Iraqi election workers dragged from their car on Sunday in the streets of Baghdad. They were all executed in open daylight. The most poignant moment captured in this article is this man's comment:



"Why did you leave the house?" one anguished man cried over the body of his brother. "You are newlywed and your bride is waiting for you."

In many parts of Iraq, leaving your home is a risk. A recent count by a British medical journal report estimates the Iraqi civilian death toll at around 98,000.

So on the subject of the change in Bush's administration: why the hell is Rumsfeld going to stay on?

Even conservatives have questioned the president's choice. Senator John McCain who was a strong supporter of the war has said he has "no confidence" in Bush's defense secretary. William Kristol, a staunch neo-conservative and editor of the Weekly Standard, described Rumsfeld's consistent pattern of passing blame for the failures in Iraq and said that our troops deserve better.

Incidentally, the Weekly Standard is holding a poll entitled, "Rumsfeld: The Secretary You Have, or The Secretary You Always Wished For?"

Please, Santa, please say he'll be gone after the Iraqi election.