As the media conspires to willfully obscure all the great news coming out of Iraq, we’re stuck reading stories like this:

The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.

The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military.

No reason was given for the downgrade. Hopefully it is unrelated to last month’s announcement that Army investigators were looking into charges against members of the 82nd Airborne Division related to a gay porn website. The soldiers were charged on Friday:

The U.S. Army has charged seven soldiers for contributing to an Internet gay porn site, the service announced Friday.
[...]
Three will face courts-martial for charges including pandering, wrongfully engaging in sexual acts with another person while being filmed, with the purpose of broadcasting over the Internet for money, and sodomy. One of the soldiers is also being charged with adultery, which is a crime under the Unified Code of Military Justice.

The other four received the maximum non-judicial punishment. All were reduced to the rank of private; put on 45-days restriction to their unit area, 45-days extra duty, and forfeiture of one-half month’s pay for two months. All have also been recommended for separation from the Army.

Obviously the “no homo” rule comes into play, but what is a god-fearing, military-supporting, gay-hating, red-blooded Amurkin to do? I wish I had one around to ask…