Thanksgiving thoughts

Apologies for randomness but there’s nothing wrong with catch-alls.

First, back when “Beds are Burning” was huge twenty years ago, I wouldn’t've ever figured that Midnight Oil’s lead singer Peter Garrett would one day be an Australian cabinet minister for the Labor party. He’s the current shadow minister for the environment and arts, though, and as mentioned yesterday the Liberals are almost certainly out. Strange times. [UPDATE: an Australian friend however notes that Garrett "did some cock-ups in the election campaign" and that the prospective new PM more than likely will shuffle the cabinet, so maybe not. So near, so far.]

Second, this is not the kind of story to read on any day, much less a holiday about thanksgiving:

Fighters, believed to be members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, launched a surprise attack in south Baghdad today, sparking a fierce fire-fight that left at least two dozen people dead, Iraqi army sources and local Sunni leaders said.

Jihad Abu Ali, a local Sunni leader who said he took part in the fighting told The Times that four of his fighters were killed, along with three Iraqi Army soldiers and at least five civilians. He said his fighters were able to kill 15 to 20 insurgents.

…

…today’s fighting showed the tenuous state of the relative calm and underscored concerns that when U.S. troops begin leaving Iraq, insurgents will resume attacks on Iraqi forces ill-equipped to fight them.

Abu Ali said that around 70 suspected Al-Qaeda fighters attacked his region of Hur Rijab in south Baghdad using rocket propelled grenades and various machineguns and automatic weapons.

“They attacked our checkpoints, Iraqi army checkpoints and civilians houses,” Abu Ali said. “They burned some Iraqi Army vehicles and took control of two Iraqi Army Humvees that they used in the battle.”

Abu Ali said the battle lasted for about three hours, and assistance his fighters hoped to get from U.S. forces was not immediately forthcoming.

“Their choppers came after everything was finished, and they did not support us,” Abu Ali said. “We were in very desperate need of their air coverage.”

Finally — and simply — happy Thanksgiving, to my fellow Americans, and to everyone else — well, have a good Thursday. Either way, spare a thought for those who have to work today or aren’t home — now, I’m not home, I admit, but I’m lucky enough to have a standing invite to join a good friend’s family for dinner, and I’ll be off there in an hour or so. Talk to folks tomorrow…

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