Loose cannons

Pyrrhic victory

"Last November's operation in Falluja, most analysts agree, succeeded less in breaking 'the back' of the insurgency — as Marine Gen. John Sattler optimistically declared at the time — than in spreading it out." — Newsweek, January 9.

Priorities

"The Americans brought electricity to my arse before they brought it to my house!" — Recently released Abu Ghraib detainee, quoted by independent US journalist Dahr Jamail, Asia Times Online, January 11.

Transfer of power from himself to...

"It's important that we celebrate a peaceful transfer of power." — Emperor George Bush II, January 14, justifying the expenditure of US$12 million on providing security to the January 20 celebrations of his (re)inauguration.

The court jester

"Because he's hiding." — Emperor Bush's answer (in an interview with the Washington Post, January 14) to the question: "Why do you think [Osama] bin Laden has not been caught?"

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From Green Left Weekly, January 26, 2005.

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From GLW issue 612