'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict

HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAQ

 I am in mind of the reaction of the Iraqi people to their countrywomen winning the Middle-East TV talent show, which surely must have been reported in the US. Suddenly, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are all jumping about, hugging each other.

Now if that’s what it takes to bring peace, forget Macdonnalds and lets get Simon Cowell et al over there and start a raft of TV talent shows! That’s one thing the US still knows how to do, to the point of infinitely boring distraction, which quite obviously the Iraqis (along with their neighbours) are up for.

How can the insurgents continue to operate in the face of an Arabic ‘X Factor’? The battle is to win hearts and minds, and if this does the trick, however spurious it may seem, so be it.

Incidentally, I understand from a recent news broadcast that the Iranians are not Arabs. I wonder how many of you out there were also not aware of this crucial information. We are somehow expected to know these things, but are left to pick the most basic facts out of the mire of politically slanted mumbo-jumbo that we are bombarded with each day.

Now, it seems the Iraqis are gagging for a massive dose of mumbo-jumbo, and who is by far the best qualified to give it to them? Who has the Professorship in mumbo-jumbo but yours truly?

Many truths are spoken in jest. It’s best that we don’t forget it.

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