And people getting bombed, shelled, killed and maimed doesn't change that. Our President has so decreed that we will ignore the dead, maimed, displaced, and focus on the oppressive occupation we have created instead.

The hallowed "Green Zone" isn't even safe anymore, and the rest of the country is worse. There are even helicopters on a 24 hour patrol over this.

"The Green Zone's most prominent landmark is Saddam's old Republican Guard building, now the American embassy. However, for many Iraqis the symbolism became clear and the impression grew that the Americans were going to be as unapproachable as the former regime."

"It's pure-make believe," said an American contractor. Several thousand Iraqis remained in private residences near the palace, however they largely kept to themselves.

"At the Green Zone Cafe, the scene of one of the blasts, soldiers and US officials could eat hamburgers and drink beer while watching American football. "You could go there and find two hundred people stacking beer cans up to the ceiling. It was the place to go to party. There's nothing else to do here," said one senior US contractor."

Yep. It's paradise. By George's definition.

Arf