What Hath Bush Wrought?

Remember the old days when we hoped our troops would help to make Iraq a safe bastion of democracy? Even if W hauled our asses in there with a great big fib, at least something good might come out of it, right?

Three years later, Baghdad sounds like the WORST place in the world to live. Our friend Hart Seely describes a desolate city piled with garbage and sewers that don't work.

And God help you if you want to date, let alone just go out on the street at night for a walk. Between the military, the insurgents, and the fundamentalists, romance barely stands a chance.

As a result of W's video-game war, the real-life residents of Baghdad have a long way to go before life is anything close to normal. No wonder E.L. Doctorow was recently moved to write a novel about Sherman's March -- our own Middle Eastern version has been going on for years.