Just So You Understand Our Standards

I don't really follow Darth Kung Fu Hands very much, but this one is just too good to pass up. Before I share, let me ask you: how do you define "success?" At your job, in your relationships, with projects you've set for yourself? It's true that I believe that not killing my boss with a javelin thrust to the chest, not cheating on my partner daily with diseased street whores, and not burning the last copy of my dissertation are all in some ways measures of "success." Now, I have confirmation:

"To be responsible, one needs to stop defining success in Iraq as the absence of terrorist attacks," Rumsfeld said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

You see, a terrorist attack every day or so doesn't mean that "success" isn't a reality in Iraq! Wow! I wonder, if we had a daily suicide bomber in the US, or suffered from regular murders of various political leaders, if we'd be a "successful" democracy too?

Ok, this is just too easy, so I'll stop. For the sober-minded, read the rest of the story. Two important points: 1) Kidnapping is coming back in Iraq. it's not going to be a good time for aid workers. 2) The trend of attacks against Iraqi security forces is a truly "successful" strategy. No matter what claptrap you may hear from the Chimp and his buddies, attacks like these will continue, and will prolong our involvement over there, because as deterrents go, they work.

"One of the suicide bombers detonated near a group of students outside a classroom," the Task Force Baghdad said. "Thinking the explosion was an indirect-fire attack, (Iraqi police) and students fled to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his vest."
Five female police officers were among the dead, Iraqi police said.
"We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion," said police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali. "Seconds later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running. I saw some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I kept on running."
Insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi security forces. Tuesday's attack was the deadliest against Iraqi forces since Feb. 28, when a suicide car bomber attacked mostly Shiite police and National Guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military said a soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad was killed when a patrol hit a roadside bomb Sunday. At least 2,129 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.
The video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed a blond, Western-looking man sitting with his hands tied behind his back. The video also bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq and showed a U.S. passport and an identification card.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed.

Success! Smell it!