The Terrorists Strike... Falafel??

Ultra-radical Islamic insurgents in Iraq are reportedly targeting a new "infadel": falafel vendors.

It used to be, as long as you kept your head down, prayed to Allah every hour, wore clothes that covered your entire body, and stayed away from alcohol, smoking, and every form of entertainment, you'd be relatively safe from Islamic militant reprisals. Unless you wandered near an I.E.D. But now, you can't even buy or sell a falafel in Baghdad without a terrorist bullseye on your back.

"I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Muhammad the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either. I felt like telling them there were no Kalashnikovs in Muhammad's time either, but I wanted to keep my life."

Iraqis shooting other Iraqis over fried chickpeas? That certainly doesn't seem like "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.

The media has reported that enraged Marines may be responsible for the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians (including women and children) in the town of Haditha. There are indications the U.S. government's own investigation may prove the allegations true.

Luckily, we have enlightened minds like Rush Limbaugh to put things in perspective:

"This Haditha story, this Haditha instance -- incident, whatever -- this is it, folks. This is the final big push on behalf of the Democratic Party, the American left, and the drive-by media to destroy our effort to win the war in Iraq... folks, let me just put it in graphic terms. It is going to be a gang rape. There is going to be a gang rape by the Democratic Party, the American left, and the drive-by media to finally take us out in the war against Iraq. Make no bones about it."

Well, that clears it up for me. The "Haditha Instance" is clearly not the fault of the Marines involved, not the fault of the architects of this war, and certainly not the fault of our President, who continues to authorize torture. It's the fault of the media, and the Democrats. I'm sure glad Rush put it in such.. er.. graphic terms for me.

If the media seems to report only negative news from Iraq, doesn't it stand to reason that maybe, just maybe, the VAST MAJORITY of news from Iraq is negative? Sure, there may be some Iraqi schoolchildren who just received pencils. But should the media trump up those stories and downplay something like... "Marines Accused of Massacre"? Limbaugh might say yes.

I'm not in Iraq. Neither are you, most likely. We don't know what's going on. And neither does Rush. All we have are two sources. The media and the government. Which one do you trust? Which one has the bigger motive to distort the truth?