Here's a new bottle for the old wine that things are far better in Iraq than the media reports. According to Amir Taheri, it's the translators' fault. Seriously. He's serious. The thousands of people who consider Moqtada the Hidden Imam; the burned corpses of Blackwater contractors; the Samarra mosque bombing; the mass graves of corpses from the wrong sect... fucking translators!

Also, there's this:

A newspaper that had opposed the war would not tolerate "positive reporting" from Baghdad. One young British reporter who didn't understand that was surprised to see himself shifted to Paris to become a European correspondent.

Listen, Taheri: make the charge specific or shut the fuck up. This is a serious accusation.