E tu madre!

A Newsweek reporter, seemingly rather exhausted and in no mood to put up with fools, took online questions on Wednesday.

Lincoln, RI: The United States spent billions trying to establish democracy in the foreign culture of South Vietnam. What makes us so optimistic that we can do it in the Middle East where none exist now except in Israel?
Rod Nordland: Who's optimistic?

Havre de Gracem, MD: Does the American government intend to start spending less in the Middle East and spending the tax money here at home where it should be spent first so citizens here can have an acceptable standard of living?
Rod Nordland: To be blunt, our standard of living would be pretty severely impacted if gasoline cost $8.00 a gallon, which is what a lot of Europeans pay for it. It's pretty hard to turn your back on the Middle East.

Omaha, NE: What is wrong with Newsweek? Why are you siding with the killers? Please call them what they are. Did you report their positions to Coalition forces? Sunday was a great day for democracy and you choose to side with the killers of women and children and innocent people. That is why I won't subscribe to your magazine. Times are a changing. You might want to change your ways if you want to be a legitimate magazine.
Rod Nordland: I fail to see how writing about the nature of the insurgency is "siding with the killers." Get real. This is a very serious problem we have in Iraq, and it's not going to get solved with this sort of shallow discourse. As someone who has spent a lot of time in Baghdad, where those killers are hunting any foreigner, I hardly have any sympathy for them. Can you even read?

It's not hard to imagine Graham Greene, bottle of whiskey next to his laptop, sighing as he faces yet another contractually obligatory online chat.