One of Ours

...Gasoline today is no more expensive today than it has been for most of the postwar period, and it is considerably cheaper than it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

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...Comparing today’s prices with those of yesteryear is a meaningless exercise unless the prices are given in constant, or “real,” dollars. And in real dollars, gas prices today are — well, normal.

Sure, the $2.03 being charged at the pump today seems high. But in actual financial terms, it’s a lot less onerous than the $1.25 a gallon motorists were paying in 1980 — a whopping $2.80 when translated into 2004 dollars. (Adjusted the other way, today’s $2.03 pump price is equal to 89 cents in 1980 dollars.) When it comes to historical price comparisons, nominal dollar amounts signify little. It is the inflation-adjusted price that tells you whether the true cost of a product has increased, decreased, or stayed the same...

...Kerry said Bush has damaged relations with allies to the point that only a new president can repair them. The problem is evident in Iraq, said the decorated Vietnam War veteran who promised to avert a quagmire.

"It will not be like Vietnam," Kerry said. "I will get our troops home from Iraq with honor and with the interests of our country properly protected."

How soon? "It will not take long to do what is necessary. I'm not going to give you a specific date, but I'll tell you that I have a plan and I will put that plan in place." Republican Richard M. Nixon used similar language during the 1968 presidential race, but the war dragged on for years after his election.

Saying his goal would be achieved in his first term, Kerry explained, “Look, you may have some deployments of people for a long period of time in the Middle East depending on what the overall approach to the Middle East is. I’m not going to tell you we won’t shift deployments from one place to another, but we’re not going to be engaged in an active kind of death zone the way we are today.”...

...Back in 2002, most pundits expected Schröder to be trounced in Germany's elections. However, the wily chancellor capitalised on German anti-war feeling and beat the opposition Conservative party - which supported the US action - by a narrow margin. Since then, economic stagnation and a series of unpopular reforms have seen Schröder's ratings slip to record lows.

The chancellor's party expects another pasting in June's election - but he hopes to save his skin by dusting off his "war record."

...the chancellor has spent the past two yeargrovelingng to Washington in order to patch up the relationship he wrecked.

...Schröder has made much of his close relationship with France's President Chirac...in the forthcoming French elections...Chirac's government is expected to be dealt a death blow...

...Thursday, US troops raided his house and the offices of his Iraqi National Congress political party. Earlier this week, his party's monthly US stipend of $340,000 was abruptly cut off.
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They overturned desks, seized computers and documents, and loaded boxes into waiting cars. Coalition officials told Associated Press that warrants had been issued for "up to 15 people" on allegations of "fraud, kidnapping, and associated matters."...neighbors said some members of Chalabi's entourage were taken away...A portrait of Chalabi hanging on the wall had a bullet hole in the forehead. Chalabi said police burst into his bedroom carrying pistols.

"I am America's best friend in Iraq," Chalabi told a news conference. "If the (coalition) finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the (coalition) and the Iraqi people."

Chalabi repudiated the American occupation authority and declared himself a leader of the new Iraq. "My relationship with the Coalition Provisional Authority doesn't exist,"...
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In recent days, American officials have hinted that Chalabi was impeding US investigations into funds allegedly skimmed from the United Nations oil-for-food program during the time of Saddam Hussein. In a strange twist, Chalabi claimed Thursday that one of the reasons for this raid was his leading role in opening the investigation.
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In Iraq, Chalabi is so widely despised that people blame him for everything from kidnapping and assassinations to electrical outages...
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As plans for the transitional government progressed, Chalabi grew increasingly critical of US and UN authorities. In recent weeks, he began to press for an increased role for the political parties represented on the governing council, and began launching bitter attacks at UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
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Chalabi's objections were no surprise. As a political appointee viewed as illegitimate by most Iraqis, he stood to lose his influence once Brahimi's plan came into being.

Desperate to keep its place the US appointed government, Chalabi's party has accused the UN special envoy of everything from "impudence" to leading a "white coup" in conspiracy with the Jordanian government.
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In fact, Chalabi is so distrusted that immediately after the raid, a rumor circulated in Baghdad: The American authorities in a last ditch attempt to salvage their man's reputation had staged the raid to increase his stature among the people as an anti-American figure.

"I think that he will try to improve his popularity and tell the Iraqis 'Look, you have a nationalist leader now, and he's against the Americans. I don't think people are so naive as to accept it,"...

"This all started since [U.N. envoy Lakhdar] Brahimi announced that Chalabi would be kept out of the new arrangement," says an Iraqi political observer who is not only long familiar with Chalabi himself but also in close touch with key actors, including U.S. officials at the CPA and Iraqi politicians.

"Ahmed is gathering groups to bring this new government down even before July 1. He is in a very destructive phase, mobilizing forces to make sure the U.N. initiative -- due to be announced in 10 days -- fails." Chalabi has reportedly been inflaming his recruits with reports that veteran Algerian diplomat Brahimi is part of a Sunni conspiracy bent on undermining the rights of Iraqi Shiites to hold power in Iraq.
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...Two other members of the Governing Council are also considered close adherents of Chalabi, who recently inaugurated the Supreme Shia Council, modeled on a similar entity that flourished in Lebanon during that country's bloody civil war. Among other entities included in the council are Iraqi members of Hezbollah.

..."He knows that, sooner or later, Muqtada al-Sadr is going to be killed, [and] that will leave tens, hundreds, of thousands of his followers adrift, looking for a new leader. If Ahmed plays the role of victim after [today's raid], he can take on that role."
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..."I think the U.S. moved against him because they realized he is a gambler, ready to bring it all down."

...the elders of the Sadrist movement begun by Muqtada's father, Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, oppose Muqtada's policies and his resort to armed violence. They are remaining silent, however, for fear of being killed by his partisans. The newspaper also received a communique signed by major clerics of Najaf condemning the gathering of extremists in the city and accusing Muqtada of having ordered that Sistani's house be sprayed by machine gun fire...<

US Occupation vs Baathist Regime:

Local crime: 50.5 percent say there is less crime now; 38.6 percent, more crime.

Random violence: 53.6 percent say things are better now; 26.4 percent, worse.

Employment: 38.9 percent, jobs are more available; 25.3 percent, jobs are less available.

Electricity: 43.4 percent, better; 23.0 percent worse.

Availability of clean water: 41.3 percent, better; 16.4 percent, worse.

Availability of medical care: 44.3 percent better; 15.6 percent, worse.

Quality of local schools: 46.9 percent better; 9.4 percent, worse.

Confidence in local government: 44.4 percent better, 16.4 percent worse.

Availability of basic goods: 44.2 percent better, 16.9 percent worse.

Keeping in mind the hardships you have suffered since the US/British invasion:

Was ousting Saddam Hussein worth it or not? Worth it: 61%, Not worth it: 38%

Are you and your family better off or worse off than before the US invasion? Better off: 51%, Worse off: 25%

Has your family income increased or decreased? Increase: 41%, Decrease: 16%

Have you ever been afraid to worship? Now: 5%, Before the war: 54%

Would Iraqis have been able to remove Saddam Hussein without a US/British invasion? Yes: 4%, No: 89%