Gonzo in Baghdad

From The American Spectator comes this report, "Down Baghdad Boulevard," from John C. Walsh, an American civilian working in Iraq. Here's an excerpt:

What is either truly funny, or truly pathetic, about this huge group of men [ie, Iraqi soldiers and police] is the way they get around. All of them ride in badly beat-up old pickup trucks! The backs of the trucks are packed with guys standing with their AK-47's pointed skyward as the pickup literally races along, putting all of their lives at risk. Have you ever tried standing in the back of a pickup as it chugs along at anywhere between 30 and 60 miles an hour through city streets?

All the soldiers in the back are waving and shouting and it is quite obvious that to all of them this whole thing is a gigantic game of Cowboys and Indians! They are in it for the sheer excitement of looking and sounding very macho, being armed to the teeth and racing around at high speed while firing their weapons in the air to make a lot of noise. It is a truly rag-tag looking group.

Well now we know why we're not getting any straight answers out of Rumsfeld and the Pentagon about the size and training status of the Iraqi army and police force.

Nonetheless, Walsh finds the rag-tag Baghdad brigade endearing.

From all the above you might deduce (as would I) that the Iraqi Army and police are some kind of Marx Brothers operation. There are certainly many reasons to think so. But maybe, just maybe, I am starting to see a tiny change in things. The sheer enthusiasm of these guys as they go tearing around, the way they mindlessly congregate in large groups and stand around chattering the better to be killed by suicide bombers, is quite awe-inspiring. In spite of the untold number of deaths among these men, they keep enlisting in numbers that defy comprehension.

I'm not impressed, if only because the entire Iraq War defies comprehension.