I can't decide

General Petraeus is either a moron or a liar - or as out of touch with reality as anyone else connected with this fiasco. I'm watching him tell Jim Lehrer that "I thought it was a pretty routine visit" in speaking of McCain's trip to the bazaar. It's just like when he goes there, he says - the hundred armed troops, the helicopters, the Humvees ... "No one wants to lose a senior senator or a force commander."

I'm sure that's true enough - when he goes to the bazaar, that's exactly how he goes.

But that doesn't mean that he - or McCain - had a trip to the bazaar that is any meaningful way a reflection of the routine of Baghdad life.

PS - he said that McCain "helped the Iraqi economy a lot - he bought a lot of rugs." Fuck. If McCain could buy enough rugs in that market to make any contribution to the economy of the country, they're totally screwed.