OH BOY

MWO has the siren up for this story, as well they should:

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Anti-American protests intensified here and in southern Iraq as US forces struggled with the complex task of rebuilding the country after toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Exasperated US military officials tried to hamper the media from covering new demonstrations in Baghdad on Tuesday while some 20,000 people in the Shiite Muslim bastion of Nasiriyah railed against a US-staged meeting on Iraq's future.

Some 200-300 Iraqis gathered Tuesday outside the Palestine Hotel, where the US marines have set up an operations base, for a third straight day of protests against the US occupation.

For the first time, visibly angered US military officials sought to distance the media from the protest, moving reporters and cameras about 30 meters (yards) from the barbed-wired entrance to the hotel.

"We want you to pull back to the back of the hotel because they (the Iraqis) are only performing because the media are here," said a marine colonel who wore the name Zarcone but would not give his first name or title.

I second the Horse's sentiment on this one: I love this brilliant US military (and otherwise) reasoning that protesting is a "performance", cheering, giving roses to troops, and kissing pictures both of Dubya and of Sly Stallone as Rocky aren't. The bottom line is: we're censoring the war . . . again.

And ooh, this one's gonna sting:

The crowd later moved to the nearby square where the statue of Saddam was toppled Wednesday to signal the end of the regime. As three of the marines' armored amphibious vehicles passed by, they chanted: "No, no, USA."

Meanwhile, demonstrators marched to the center of the predominantly Shiite southern city of Nasiriyah, chanting "Yes to freedom ... Yes to Islam ... No to America, No to Saddam."

When will some intrepid columnist from the Weekly Standard or the National Review (or perhaps Instapundit) slam the Iraqi people for their dreaded "moral relativism"? Haha.

And "yes to Islam"? Surely, the righteous reverend Franklin "Islam is a wicked and evil religion" Graham will fix that!

What a mess we're making.