An inescapable horror:

• BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – Three Iraqi civilians were killed by US military fire in two incidents on Thursday in the province of Diyala, one of the most dangerous regions in the country, Iraqi security officials said.
  Two people died in the town of Al-Ghalibiyah, just west of the provincial capital Baquba, when a US patrol shot up their vehicle as it entered the main street from a side road while the convoy was passing, Iraqi army major Ziad al-Ani told AFP.
  “It was in coincidence. The passing US military convoy thought the car was a hostile target and opened fire, shooting dead two people,” said Ani.
  In the other incident, US forces killed a civilian crossing the street near a gas factory in the centre of Baquba, said police Captain Muhannad al-Bawi, without giving further details.
  Doctor Ahmed Fuad of the Baquba general hospital confirmed that the medical facility had received three bodies.
  The US military said it is investigating the claims.
  — Agence France-Presse (1/3/08)

Although the Iowa caucus has been perceived as placing the economy over the Iraq war in importance, Barack Obama’s victory of change will open the war wounds as the presidential campaign swings to New Hampshire next Tuesday.
In the wildness of it all, bootjack John McCain explained why he and the rest of the Republicans will be slaughtered this year. US peoples are tired of this shit:

• McCain, working the crowds in New Hampshire, interrupted someone recalling that President Bush envisions U.S. forces in Iraq for 50 more years with, “Maybe a hundred [years].” He continued, “That’s fine with me, I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaeda is training and equipping and recruiting and motivating people every single day.”
  — scholarsandrogues.com (1/4/08)

No matter what politics portrays in the coming weeks: Bring the troops home now!