Day: August 24, 2007

Iraq’s government will become more precarious in the coming months and a drawdown of US forces could increase sectarian violence, American spy agencies said in a grim report Thursday.

The new intelligence estimate also predicted that security improvements made over the past six months will erode if the US military narrows its mission to supporting the Iraqi security forces and fighting Al-Qaeda.

The US intelligence community “assesses that the Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months because of criticism by other members of the major Shia coalition” as well as Sunni and Kurdish parties, the new estimate warned.

It was supposed to be a happy-talk news briefing by an Army general about progress in rebuilding Iraq. It turned into a cry of woe about the disintegration of the supply of electricity to Baghdad.

The briefing, as reported by The New York Times, led to questions to Karim Wahid, a respected Iraqi official, who told reporters that a key reason why there are only two to six hours of electricity in Baghdad on any given day is that armed militia groups now control electric dispatch centers and refuse to share power.

I’ve never been one of those fawning pet owners, the kind who dress up their animals in funny clothes and won’t let them be dogs. I guess I can understand some of the extremes when they substitute for children and human companionship, and I have rarely found many humans as loyal as a dog once it decides to latch on to you.

Cleveland has its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to celebrate the likes of Mick Jagger and the Beatles. Washington has its Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to highlight such milestones as man on the moon.

North Huntingdon, near Pittsburgh, is honoring another type of human achievement by turning the words “twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheese picklesonionsonasesameseedbun” into a tourist destination.

The recent headlines might send a chill up any parent’s spine:

Suspect Accused Of Using Facebook To Lure 15-Year-Old Boy. Seven Teenaged Girls Assaulted By Men They Met Through MySpace.Com.

Social networking Web sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Friendster, are a virtual playground where millions of children log in looking to make friends near and far.