It seems the US has declared victory in Iraq and gone home. There were no earthshattering stories today, just a retread of yesterday's "dramatic rescue" of seven POW's. Why does it always seem you find the missing in the last place you look? Of course there was the liberation (or occupation, depending on your POV) of Tikrit and the plundering of the Iraqi national museum, including the oldest piece of writing on earth, of which this weblog is a proud descendant. Does somebody really think they are going to be able to sell that on the open market?

For more war-related fun, here's an interesting website: http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/

Lo, What News?

April 14 – Monday
When is the War Over?
Large-scale combat in Iraq is finished, and the U.S. war commander is sending forces home. US military spokesman says the fall of Tikrit does not mean the war is over. The 4th Infantry Division crossed the border into Iraq on Monday. The USS Portland returned to Little Creek, Va., on Friday. At least two attack submarines also have returned from the war. Two aircraft carrier battle groups, the USS Kitty Hawk will leave the Gulf around the middle of this week and the USS Constellation will leave for San Diego shortly afterward.
The Air Force has sent home the four B-2 stealth bombers.
None of the suspicious materials removed from the battlefield so far, including containers of suspected chemical agents, has yielded positive test results. Testing continues.
U.S. forces in Qaim, a town near the Syrian border, have pushed Iraqi forcesout of the way.' The town is still not under coalition control

Reconstruction
National Library and its centuries of archives ransacked and burned. The entire contents of Iraq's national library and archives are reported to have been burned down, destroying priceless records of the country's history. [To Arabs, this could be a cultural disaster on par with the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258. – Ed.]
American civil affairs officers began meetings with Iraqi government officials in an effort to revive essential city services, including the police and fire departments. Americans held meetings at government ministries to begin planning how government can be revived. American patrols appeared to have adopted more muscular tactics in dealing with looters.
More than 2,000 Baghdad policemen report back to work. Iraqi police also join British troops in Basra to help restore calm.
American and Iraqi officials prepare to meet in southern Iraq on Tuesday to begin setting up an interim government

Who’s Next?
U.S. accused Syria of developing chemical weapons and harboring fugitives from the regime of Saddam Hussein. Ari Fleischer warns Syria against harbouring fugitive Iraqi regime members and says "Syria is a terrorist state". Colin Powell says the US will consider imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria for its alleged support of members of the toppled Iraq regime. The EU and Russia called on the US to reduce tension in its dealings with Syria. [Victory can be intoxicating, can’t it? I’m sure Hitler felt it after invading Poland. – Ed.]
The Economist last week had an article on "Why Jordanians fear to protest too loudly." The upshot was that they don't protest because they fear the all-pervasive mukhabarat, or secret police. Contrary to popular American public opinion, Jordan is not a democracy instilled with liberal western values. It is a repressive dictatorship without real freedoms that we in the West take for granted, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or freedom to peaceably assemble.