Baghdad Burning. From an Iraqi woman's blog (May 7 entry): "People are seething with anger - the pictures of Abu Ghraib and the Brits in Basrah are everywhere. ... American and British politicians have the audacity to come on television with words like, 'True the people in Abu Ghraib are criminals, but ...' Everyone here in Iraq knows that there are thousands of innocent people detained. Some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, while others were detained 'under suspicion'. In the New Iraq, it's 'guilty until proven innocent by some miracle of God'. ...

"I don't understand the 'shock' Americans claim to feel at the lurid pictures. You've seen the troops break down doors and terrify women and children ... curse, scream, push, pull and throw people to the ground with a boot over their head. You've seen troops shoot civilians in cold blood. You've seen them bomb cities and towns. You've seen them burn cars and humans using tanks and helicopters. Is this latest debacle so very shocking or appalling? ...

"I sometimes get emails asking me to propose solutions or make suggestions. Fine. Today's lesson: don't rape, don't torture, don't kill and get out while you can -- while it still looks like you have a choice. Chaos? Civil war? Bloodshed? We'll take our chances -- just take your Puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go."

Also: The truly insane Zell Miller compares prison abuse to showering after gym class (also here and here). ... An Ohio manufacturing plant that George W. Bush used last year as a backdrop to show how his economic polciies were working has shut down. ... Condoleezza Rice "has made a hobby of receiving memos/reports with dire information, and then doing absolutely nothing about them." ... The 9/11 Commission will be holding public hearings in New York City tomorrow and Wednesday.