The Iraqi government vacation story has been widely reported and yet the Dems seem to be dropping the ball on this one. They should be reminding the American public of this sad fact repeatedly, every chance they get. Not only would this resonate with the public because of most developed nations in the world, the U.S. gets the least number of vacation days, but it would doubly resonate because it's galling and wrong. Our soldiers are over there sacrificing their lives and yet the local government officials feel the need to take a long vacation -- especially in light of Bush's September progress report fast coming due.

Recall that Cheney went to Iraq in May to try to convince them to nix this idea. It's obvious by snubbing the wishes of Cheney, and therefore Bush too, that the Iraqi government has no interest in doing even the bare minimum to achieve the established benchmarks. Bush/Cheney have to know this and yet they say not a word, choosing instead to have our soldiers fight for a cause the Iraqis themselves could care less about. You can take a horse to water....

Enough with our soldiers fighting for what has degenerated into a political shell game.