Fiasco Indeed

Regarding the mini-melee in the House of Representatives last night, when the Republicans booed and heckled the Democrats, prompting an NPR correspondent to say that Congress was beginning to sound like Parliament in Britain: I say, about time. If we had an actual parliamentary system, we could have gotten rid of our current president at least two years ago and spared Iraq enormous pain and ourselves pain and global embarrassment both. Tom Ricks of The Washington Post says he was wrong to title his recent book on Iraq "Fiasco." Iraq is worse than a fiasco now; according to him it's a "wicked problem" (a term used by scientists to denote a problem that any available remedy can only make worse). All I know is that nearly every Iraqi killed in this conflict would be alive today if we'd never invaded. And, seeing that we can't now and never could justify an invasion, what on earth does that say about us?

"Fiasco" came out in paperback this week; out of sheer weariness with the war, I'd put off reading it. Now it's on my bedside table. Reading it is the least I can do, given that others are actually living it.