Lileks quotes an open and snotty letter to George W. Bush published in The Guardian:

I hate to wake you up from that dream you are having, the one in which you are a superhero bringing democracy and freedom to underdeveloped, oppressed countries. But you really need to check things out in one of the countries you have recently bombed to freedom. Georgie, I am kind of worried that things are going a bit bad in Iraq and you don't seem to care that much. You might want it to appear as if things are going well and sign Iraq off as a job well done, but I am afraid this is not the case.

Listen, habibi, it is not over yet. Let me explain this in simple terms. You have spilled a glass full of tomato juice on an already dirty carpet and now you have to clean up the whole room. Not all of the mess is your fault but you volunteered to clean it up. I bet if someone had explained it to you like that you would have been less hasty going on our Rambo-in-Baghdad trip.

To tell you the truth, I am glad that someone is doing the cleaning up, and thank you for getting rid of that scary guy with the hideous moustache that we had for president. But I have to say that the advertisements you were dropping from your B52s before the bombs fell promised a much more efficient and speedy service.

Why do they hate us? Maybe the question should be, Why should we give two hoots about them? I spent two years on an LDS mission to southern Germany, having doors slammed in my face. I suppose I should have learned from that not to expect gratitude from those I was trying to help, but then I didn't put my life on the line for them or rescue them from a fascist regime. My dad's generation did that. Most Germans I met just loved Americans. But Salam Pax seems to have gone Hollywood, or at least London. What a jerk.