I just thought I'd pick up a new thread to move this discussion closer to blogtop.

Dave asked in comments there what Stasi-like files I was referring to. The story is here.

The records would stretch 91/2 miles if laid end to end, the officials said. They contain not only the names of nearly every Iraqi intelligence officer, but also the names of their paid foreign agents, written agent reports, evaluations of agent credentials, and documentary evidence of payments made to buy influence in the Arab world and elsewhere, the officials said.

The officials declined to name individuals who they believe received funds or to name the home countries of the alleged recipients. One official said the recipients held high-ranking positions and worked both in Arab countries and in other regions. A second official said the payments were the subjects of "active investigations" by U.S. government agencies.

The recipients of the Iraqi funds were described by U.S. officials not as formal intelligence agents, but as prominent personalities and political figures who accepted money from Iraq as they defended Hussein publicly or pressed his causes.

So these are more of the files they talked about just after the invasion, the most public of which turned out to be falsified?

I don't answer complex questions. When did you quit molesting little boys?

Then you should stop posting simple "answers" then Rand.

The Christian Science Monitor has already had to appologise, in a most grovelling way I thought. And yet, you seem to take comfort in any datum which supports your personal preconceptions.

Dave,

Don't most people take some comfort from supporting data? Things may turn out to be right, wrong, falsified or true... but the underlying reality doesn't change.

Most people also get a little carried away with their own personal prejudices, but this doesn't mean those prejudices aren't based on experienced observation (although admittedly they often are not or put too much weight into anecdotal evidence.)

The real question is what beliefs are reasonable and what are not. Then is the question of taking less than perfect action vs. acting in a way that makes hoping for the tooth faery seem reasonable.

The price of freedom is paid in blood. Americans have the courage to pay the price along with many others that go unsung. These aren't conscripts, these are volunteers and they are doing an amazing job.

Anybody can point out faults, which takes the least talent of any human endeavor. Yes, people lie, embellish the truth and mislead... even people you respect. This gives no excuse for missing the big picture, which in this case is that an evil tyranical thug is now in hiding and the people he oppressed are learning to be free.

Personally, I do choose to take comfort in information that says are troops are being successful, because I support that success. For someone to say they support these young people while at the same time taking comfort at the bad news (by gloating and ridicule) proves what real scumbags they are (with apologies to Miller for saying that actual bags filled with scum probably resent that remark.)

I'm sorry. I hate hearing that another solder has died serving our country. I'd hate it even more if we didn't act in a way that is at least a little bit deserving of the price they pay.

Ken,

My problem is with taking comfort from the wrong things and reacting incorrectly. My deepest fear is, at the moment, that all the stories about the US getting cold feet will prove to be true. Certainly some of the rhetoric coming from Bremmer is worrying me.

We went in with too little preparation, too few troops on the ground and too little planning about what to do next.

We can't alter that, we're just going to have to live with that. While basic services might now be improving the security situation is not and that is more likely to come and bite us in the arse than anything else.