HELLO, FRIEND! NOW GO AWAY

The top two paragraphs of a New York Times story effectively characterizes the blinding moronicism with which the Bush administration has blundered foreign policy and the situation in Iraq, at the cost of more than 400 American lives and counting.

"President Bush found himself in the awkward position on Wednesday of calling the leaders of France, Germany and Russia to ask them to forgive Iraq's debts, just a day after the Pentagon excluded those countries and others from $18 billion in American-financed Iraqi reconstruction projects.

"White House officials were fuming about the timing and the tone of the Pentagon's directive, even while conceding that they had approved the Pentagon policy of limiting contracts to 63 countries that have given the United States political or military aid in Iraq."

That's like telling a friend to bugger off, then reminding them it's your birthday. Right. Good show.