AT on the Surge

Asia Times Online should be in your bookmarks no matter what continent you call home. Three stories on the surge stand out today.

First, Pepe Escobar begins Surging toward the holy oil grail with this quote from Hamlet, Act IV:

I see the imminent death of 20,000 men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds ...
O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth.

Second, Julian Delasantellis begins Why 21,500 wrongs won't make it right thusly:

Attributed to Confucius is a maxim that advises, "Never kill a mosquito with a cannon." If adapted and updated by the operational strategists directing the United States' war in Iraq, including Tuesday's battle of Haifa Street in Baghdad, it would now advise never to kill a mosquito with a cannon when you can drop a 500-pound bomb from an F-16 instead.

Third, while it references neither the Bard nor the Sage, Sumedha Senanayake's Opening shots fired in battle for Baghdad is well worth a read.