During the second world war the British Soldiers used to refer to their American Allies (GI’s) as being “oversexed, overpaid and overhere”

I think that the phrase that can be applied to the US invasion force in Iraq is “over inept, over incompetent and over there”.

In yet another attempt to win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq – the Marines attacked a wedding party and killed a fair few. Not terrorists or freedom fighters or remanents of the Republican Guard – but members of a wedding party.

The Guardian has the most “human” report that I have read. They report that

Major General James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division, was scathing of those who suggested a wedding party had been hit. “How many people go to the middle of the desert … to hold a wedding 80 miles (130km) from the nearest civilisation? These were more than two dozen military-age males. Let’s not be naive.”

Well General Mattis people in such lands – including my own – live in remote areas. They are called “villages” but they are more likely to be hamlets. Weddings are held where the family lives.