They say things are improving in Iraq, yet we still get stories like this:

Two near simultaneous bomb attacks in the Iraqi Sunni city of Fallujah on Wednesday killed six people and wounded 18, security officials told AFP.

The bombs exploded at around 6:30 am (0330 GMT) within minutes of each other near a bank in central Fallujah, the former Sunni rebel bastion in the western province of Anbar.

Those killed included four policemen, a security official said, adding that the second bomb went off as officers were aiding victims of the first attack.

The painfully slow process of progress explained:

Lt. Gen. James Dubik was expected to tell the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that Iraq's security forces have grown by more than a quarter — from 444,000 to 566,000 — since he assumed command of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in June 2007. And, he says, the forces are improving their ability to execute operations on their own.

But the fast-growing force lacks experienced military leaders and the inability to train all of its new recruits, Dubik says.

"As I often said to my command in Baghdad, 'progress doesn't result in no problems, it results in new problems,'" he wrote in prepared testimony for the hearing.

And, well, speaking of progress resulting in new problems:

Alcohol is openly for sale once more in Baghdad. All over the Iraqi capital, drink stores, which closed their doors in early 2006 when sectarian strife was raging, have slowly begun to reopen. Two years ago, al-Qa'ida militants were burning down liquor stores and shooting their owners. Now around Saadoun Street, in the centre of the city, at least 50 stores are advertising that they have alcohol for sale.

The fear of being seen drinking in public is also subsiding.

And that's a good thing.  A meeting over drinks could help find the more fundamental people in the mix and allow the Iraqis to conduct their own witch hunts.

And now that these stores have REopened, could a few more people please acknowledge that Iraq under that ruthless megalomaniacal tyrant Saddam was at least not a very fundamentally religious place?

After all, the ruthless megalomaniacal tyrants we spend so much time and money supporting need all the worship they can get.  No room for those other gods around, right?