I haven't been blogging on this story because, quite frankly, everyone else has been and they're far more qualified to talk about it than some schlub of a poet with an inexplicable jones for news who's only awake because of a toothache.

But something Matthew Yglesias posted struck a note with me and reminded me of when I was watching the first Gulf War on the myriad television sets I was trying to sell when I worked at Sears Brand Central at the time.

He writes:

This account of the battle to retake Falluja is very interesting reading and speaks to the competence and bravery of our United States Marines, but one has to ask oneself -- what's the goal, exactly?