Two things that annoy Abu Muqawama today...

One, if the Italian legal system were some incorruptible, we-mean-business outfit that put the Sicilian and Neapolitan mafia bosses behind bars and clamped down on the crimes and corruption of Italy's elected officials, Abu Muqawama would have more patience for it when it starts going after U.S. soldiers who accidentally shoot an Italian spy going through a security checkpoint, at night, during a war:

ROME, Oct. 25 — An Italian court ruled Thursday that it did not have jurisdiction to continue a trial against an American soldier who killed a top Italian intelligence agent in Iraq in 2005. The trial, a continuing irritant in relations between Italy and the United States, had been held in absentia because American officials refused to hand over the soldier, Mario Lozano.

Two, does anyone else ever notice how the National Review never runs out of the energy needed to attack some idiot soldier-blogger employed by The New Republic -- another magazine readable only for its book reviews -- but just never seems to have the space to dedicate to critical analysis of this massive disaster of a war in Iraq? (Read here and here. The only thing worthwhile about the latter article is that it highlights LTC Fred Johnson, a mentor to young Abu Muqawama and, despite his choice in students, a first-rate infantry officer.) Seriously, now that the war they all supported has turned out to be a lot more difficult than first imagined, these clowns at the National Review would rather play shoot-the-messenger than think hard how we might have done this one better. Enough already.