Black Hawk Down

>November was the bloodiest month for U.S. and allied forces since we attacked Iraq in March: 111 total dead, 79 U.S. troops. Since the beginning of the war, 438 soldiers have died. We’re just beginning to count Iraqi deaths. >As Nicholas Lemann put it in The New Yorker, “(Condoleezza) Rice . . . believes in belief, as an all-conquering force. Doubt, ambiguity, and caution are just not part of the picture.” >Three Blackhawk helicopters (and a Chinook) have gone down over Iraq since late October. The fourth Black Hawk to crash and burn might be Condoleezza Rice and her belief in the war itself. PULPit BY ROBBIE CONAL Twenty-five years. Where did the time go? For at least seven of those years, Robbie Conal has been waging a graphic counterassault on our favorite villains and bogeymen. Nixon, Cheney, Monica, Martha — you can find them all in the new book ARTBURN. Get it at your local bookseller or go to robbieconal.com.