PATRICK COCKBURN ON ESCALATING WAR IN IRAQ

Patrick Cockburn, one of my favorite Iraq journalists, has this to say about the bombing of a mosque in Samarra: Iraq is on the "brink of civil war." It's not surprising -- after all, US efforts to create an Iraqi Army have mainly succeeded in thrusting large quantities of arms into the hands of people with other agendas.

Amusingly enough, in checking the blogosphere on this one I noted this blog -- a prescient notion -- since the US economy is based on home equities these days it's only fitting that someone should blog its downfall. After all, before a new regime can be made possible, the old regime must be brought to its knees. A "new thread to talk about the bubble" garnered 109 comments, so someone is reading it. Definitely worth bookmarking. And kudos to Desert Rat Democrat for providing pictures.