NEWS: Good Times In Baghdad

POLITICS: Good Times In Baghdad

I used to be a supporter of John McCain. He actually seemed an impressive candidate back in the day, but has now officially turned into a crazy old man. It has been a slow, sad journey into his current pathetic state and every moment has been documented in the press. This week we saw the final nail in the coffin for McCain, as he sauntered the streets of Baghdad in a moment that reminds one of Michael Dukakis riding in a tank.

The McCain-Baghdad nightmare started last week, when McCain went on several talk shows and claimed parts of Baghdad were safer than Detroit.

That, of course, turned out to be bullshit. Reporters in Baghdad, military officers and Iraqi civilians flat out said that McCain was wrong. So, what do you do if you’re a crazy old man? You prove those fuckers wrong! McCain was off to Baghdad this week, where he strolled the streets while being guarded by 100 American soldiers, 3 Blackhawk helicopters and 2 Apache gunships – just like they do in Detroit. He also threw in a bulletproof vest for good measure.

Only 30 minutes after McCain left, a half dozen morters were fired at the Green Zone, where he had held his press conference. The next day was even worse as 21 workers from the market McCain had visited were “ambushed, bound and shot dead.” Doesn’t take a genius to realize the insurgents were sending a message.

So, McCain is a fucking idiot when it comes to Iraq, but so are a lot of the politicians these days. Unfortunately, that is who seems to be speaking for the Iraqis. We get a quote from Cheney, Rice or Bush about what the Iraqis want but rarely do we hear it from their own mouths, which is a direct result of how dangerous the country has become. Reporters are scared to venture outside the Green Zone. I am tired of hearing assholes like McCain and Rice tell me what is going on in Iraq when they have not spent a day on the ground and therefore don’t know shit.

Well, we finally have a glimpse inside the mind of the every day Iraqi and it is amazing. The website Hometownbaghdad.com has given us some of the most riveting videos I have ever seen on the internet. Created by Iraqis, it is a “documentary web series following the lives of a few Iraqi 20-somethings trying to survive in Baghdad.”

Meet Adel, a middle class, heavy metal guitar player whose band has split up because of the war.



There also seems to be an issue with bullets that McCain failed to mention on this visit.



It’s a side of the war you have never seen.

Good grief, I can't even imagine what it must be like to live in a place where Apache gunships fly overhead with weapons hot.

The "OMG GOP SINKING SHIP!!!11!!!11!one!!" continues...

-TM

freedom is a magic carpet ride...

He obviously hasn't been to Detroit in a while... (Three years ago when I was living there full-time, I went for a walk outside my apartment building and found a corpse underneath an overpass!)

That second video is kinda funny.
"If anything should happen i'm prepared for it."
The kids in Compton think they got it bad, pff.

john mccain's a fuck up.

Great videos! I hadn't seen them before, and am glad to have learned about that site.

Leave it to Reaper, he is a flip flopper just like the democratic party

Agreed... I used to think McCain had balls, not quite toeing his party's line, but now...

WTF.

sounds like john is endorsing iraq as a new vacation hotspot...where every night is like the fourth of july.

Hmmm. . .Republicans can equivocate about Iraq and President Bush in the same breath:

How much do you wanna bet that Sen. Hagel voted for Bush twice and is now eating his words?

That is flip-flopping at its finest folks. Get used to it. The Republicans can't spin their way out of this quagmire. The American people held them accountable in the last election and will do the same in '08.

Link to Hometown Baghdad is no good:

http://hometownbaghdad.com/

Yeah FTR, you should just keep liking McCain no matter how crazy he gets, because once you make a choice, you stick with it mister. FOR. EVER.

That's the kind of sound logic that elected Bush for his second term.

I'd fix it but the newsire has been screwy. There is a possibility the story would be wiped out, so thanks for posting the link.

It's also the same reason my grandmother stays with my grandfather.

I second that!!!

I don't think a middle class Iraqi could afford an electric guitar.

I loved it!

Baghdad... Been there done that

God for-fucking-bid anyone assess a situation in realtime and react accordingly.

I mean, seriously - what's it like to be so dense that you generate your own gravitational field?

CUT AND RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What an amazing website. Ordinary people trying to live their lives in extraordinary circumstances.

Why do you think that?