7.19.2007 | Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the classy name that pretentious folks have for Iraq. And, at the head of the class, polishing those apples for some great, liberal teacher, is the Gray Lady. The Times seems to refer to some terrorist group now operating in Iraq as "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia."

Well, I checked the CIA Factbook, and, wouldn't you know it, there's no "Mesopotamia." Ah, Wikipedia to the rescue. Mesopotamia, as all of us history buffs know, was an ancient empire situated in what became Iraq. Unfortunately, Mesopotamia hasn't existed as an entity for roughly 2,500 years.

But, somehow, al-qaeda is still there. Perhaps they were there in the beginning, way back in the Iron Age? Could be; some things never change. But the Times is hardly a defender of the way things used to be. No, they're a progressive lot, and, perhaps, there's a different agenda being spun here.

Well, as they say, your mileage may vary, but the references in their stories and opinion columns (a redundancy, here), such as this story concerning the "home-grown group with some foreign involvement" that is slaughtering Iraqis. And, when they get lucky, some of our men.

But, wasn't it an article of religious faith, a dogma, for the Times and others on the left that there was no involvement of al-qaeda with or in Iraq? Of course, all it took was the first American boots on Iraqi soil to cause a fully-formed "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia" to spring up.

Seems pretty clear that the Iraqis were already pretty cozy with al-qeada before we invaded. Also seems pretty clear that folks like the Times are more concerned with sounding learned than with reporting the facts. And simply ignoring any facts they find contravenes their religious dogma.