Dwindling Deck

Well, it "only" took around 200 special forces troops from the US army's Task Force 20, supported by the 101st Airborne Division, helicopter gunships, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns to kill two guys, but now that the ace of spades and the ace of hearts are gone from my Most Wanted deck, my dwindling chances at winning at solitaire just took another blow. Only 16 of the top 55 cards remain at large, leaving me with only a bastard form of Monte Carlo to play.

But hey, this is "big news". It's so big, The Bush Administration was magnanimously willing to let a 2nd aide apologize on their behalf yesterday for allowing a tainted intelligence report on Iraq's nuclear ambitions into Bush's State of the Union address, knowing of course, the story would be buried amid all the hoo-hah surrounding the death of the Hussein Boys. Stephen Hadley, President Bush's deputy national security adviser and top aide to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, became the second Administration official shoved forward to take the fall for the president's National Enquirer-like claim that Saddam was buying yellowcake from Niger and was thus, only moments away from nuking America.

If Imperialist Forces capture or kill Saddam, what do you think the Bush Administration will quietly cop to during that media firestorm, rigging the 2000 Presidential elections?

Yes, George. "Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein." Imagine indeed:

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

And here's what a standup guy that Bush is: Hadley expressed his regret to Bush Monday, offering what amounted to his resignation but Bush did not accept it!, said aides speaking on condition of anonymity. What a guy to work for, that President Bush! What more can you ask for in a boss? He forgives grievous errors by his underlings which portray him as either a liar or a buffoon with one hand and he singlehandedly wipes out the Iraqi nuclear terror with the other!

But let's not lose focus here. As America's al-Jazeera reported yesterday that the bodies of the Hussein Boys were taken to Baghdad International Airport Wednesday to be flown out of the country. American officials, would not say why the bodies were being taken out of Iraq or to where, of course, because everyone knows how dangerous dead bodies can be. The bodies will likely be stuffed and form part of an exhibit at the future George W. Bush Presidential Museum or, will be quickly disposed of and cremated so no one finds out that the bodies were actually those of fall guys George Tenet and Stephen Hadley.

Yet somehow, for all the hysterical pomp and panoply, the death of the Hussein boys is no magical elexir for mitigating horrific military planning and leaving American troops like sitting ducks waiting to be picked off by angry guerillas. Sure, in Hong Kong, British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the killings as "a great day for the new Iraq." but still, two U.S. soldiers were killed and eight wounded in separate ambushes Wednesday -- including one on the outskirts of Mosul where the sons were slain the day before.

So while another poodle in the Bush menagerie, John Howard, gleefully claimed "I don't want to overstate that, but psychologically it's a huge step forward," it might be noted that none of these propitious, forward-stepping Pollynanists have to actually sit around playing target practice under a scorching sun, for enraged Iraqis.

And oh, by the way, for you collectors our there, Saddam is still sending audiotapes of himself urging Iraqis to "raise troops in resistance" and fight against the "invading forces."

So while the Hussein Boys are dead, business, it appears, goes on as usual.