"Supporting" the Troops, Bush Style!

Thanks to the incredible success of the Iraq war, recruitments are down, and deaths are up. But hey, no problem, says the Washington Post, because the commanders have found a new source of manpower -- the insurgents!!

Equipped with arms from the U.S. and a generous supply of cash, the former Sunni insurgents are joining American troops in whatever it is we're doing over there. The bottom line: we are arming and financing Sunnis with what the Post calls "murky allegiances and shady pasts. " How shady? Many of them have ties to "al Qaida in Iraq," one of the administrations's favorite fear-mongering names.

U.S. generals said they vet the backgrounds of every recruit, but ground commanders here said that is all but an impossible task.

"Officially, we will not deal with those who have American blood on their hands," said[Lt. Col. Robert] Balcavage, 42. "But how do you know? You don't. There's a degree of risk involved. A lot of it is gut instinct. That's what I'm going on. They didn't teach me how to do this at West Point."