Iraq

Lots of people are dying right now. It's tough to be funny or flip about that. Here are some questions, though:

Why don't we know very much about the insurgency? Several sites, of varying levels of credibility, have tried to break it down. Still, it's all fairly unconvincing.

Is there any such thing as ties to al Qaeda? Isn't al Qaeda more of an ideology than a structured group? As such, is there really any point in identifying al-Qaeda members? A fairly well-written article on the subject can be found here, and you can find a comically ignorant interactive report on al Qaeda's 'structure' by going here, clicking on Interactive: Bin Laden & Al Qaeda, then clicking "Catching Al Qaeda: The Top Members." Notice how all the unknowns have a kaffiyeh on, while only half of the photographed members are wearing head adornment at all. If you want to stop terrorism, make sure you look out wearing striped scarves on their heads. ugh.

Regardless to whether the leaders of al Qaeda terror cells wear hats, shouldn't the national media be a little more careful in its classification of acts of terror? All al Qaeda means is "the foundation," and any old group can come along and adopt its scary title, giving Americans nightmare visions of a giant network of well-trained operatives who carry out covert paramilitary activity. Today's Post article on the most recent bombings mentions Al Qaeda twice, though this was the best they could do to actually attribute the attacks to anyone:

The group did not immediately assert direct responsibility for the attacks, but an Internet statement issued in its name welcomed the start of "revenge battles throughout the land of Mesopotamia."

That, and a tape recording "attributed to Zarqawi, which was posted on the Internet," are the only connections the Post can report between the current insurgency and al Qaeda.

The point really isn't whether it's al Qaeda behind these attacks or not. The point is that this country is so far away from understanding its 'enemies' that progress will be extremely fitful and hard-won, lest some alterations in strategy are made. Because if we don't know whom to smoke out and exterminate one by one, where does that really leave us, you know, from like a moral standpoint, or something?