More goods news from Iraq plus a little schadenfreude

Woo hoo!
My hero, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, made a surprise visit to Iraq this past week. He made his stop in Fallujah to no doubt give a pep talk, but also announce that President George W. Bush has authorized cuts in US troops levels in Iraq. No word on when exactly those troop levels will be brought down.

Meanwhile, the hard work has to continue.
U.S. soldiers dug up a recently buried weapons cache of aging Soviet, French and German missles and rockets. This weapons stash was unearthed about 150 miles northwest of Baghdad. Munitions like these are of particular deadly importance because they are often the raw materials for I.E.D.'s; the insurgents weapon of choice against coalition forces. Also unearthed were various quantities of mines, mortars and machine gun rounds.

Speaking of digging things up.
Remember Sadr City? One year ago, U.S. troops were battling with insurgents through the neglected streets of this sprawling slum of 1 million mostly poor Shiite residents. Today, the nerve rattling blasts of deadly munitions has been replaced by the steady clatter of construction to repair sewers, deliver clean water and restore electricity. This construction is being supervised by Lt. Col. Jamie Gayton of the U.S. Army.
"This is an area that was neglected by the former regime for 30 years, so the people are very grateful for what we are doing," says Gayton. "But at the same time, once they get a taste of some improvement, they can also get a little anxious for more progress or for things to go a little faster."
Gayton says about a third of slated infrastructure improvements - budgeted at $300 million - have been completed.

But can progress in Sadr City be translated to other obliterated areas of Iraq? Can Fallujah be rebuilt?

Can Saddam sit down and shut up?
Schadenfreude is a German word that means 'to take pleasure in another's misfortune'. It's a perverse kind of pleasure that is probably unique to humans as a species. Saddam has been making noises lately about being 'tortured' while in custody. These claims have since been dismissed by an investigating judge.
Saddam made these same noises back in November.

Stop it.
I'm gettin' all misty eyed.