I protest.

Good guys, bad guys.

This is the kind of thing that makes you wonder which is which: As U.S. Retreats, Iran Puts Its Money Into Afghan Province. (Via Cursor.) See, it just so happens that the United States is supposed to be rebuilding Afghanistan, after bombing the hell out of it to defeat the Taliban and ferret out Osama bin Laden and his merry band of terrorists. Unfortunately, we've been dropping the ball.

So Iran has picked it up:

Two months ago, Iran began supplying electricity to streets, government offices and the hospital in the city of Herat, a boon in a country where the vast majority of people have no regular access to electric power. The Iranian government spent $15 million to extend power lines to Herat and is selling the electricity at a loss, according to Iranians and Afghans familiar with the project.

Construction on a 76-mile road that Iran is building from the Iranian border town of Dugharun to Herat -- at a cost of $38 million thus far -- has accelerated recently. A few months ago it took four hours to drive from Herat to Iran. Now it takes two.

Iran built a railway line to its border with Herat last year and is awaiting permission from the Afghan government to extend rail service into Afghanistan.

The Iranian government has pledged to spend $560 million over five years to help rebuild Afghanistan.

Iran, of course, being a member of that "axis of evil" with which we're all so familiar these days. It's beginning to look like Iran has also replaced Syria as our next target for, um, "regime change."

And meanwhile, in the same part of the world, the United States can't even keep the lights on in Baghdad. The title of that Independent piece, by the way, is "Powerless Iraqis rail against ignorant, air-conditioned US occupation force." That pretty much says it all, I think. Unfortunately, I don't think that every American there is ignorant, some are just lying through their teeth:

Asked about Baghdad's lack of electricity at an air-conditioned press conference, Paul Bremer, the American head of the occupation authority, looking cool in a dark suit and quiet purple tie, simply asserted that, with a few exceptions, Baghdad was now receiving 20 hours of electricity a day. "It simply isn't true," said one Iraqi, shaking his head in disbelief after listening to Mr Bremer. "Everybody in Baghdad knows it."

It's hardly surprising to me that he is described as "living in an air-conditioned fantasy world." Bremer is in so far over his head that daylight is a distant memory.

Doing anything about the state of things in Baghdad is unthinkable, I'm afraid:

The obvious solution for the US is to set up an Iraqi provisional administration, operating under ultimate American control. But attractive though this might be, it would also mean ceding some power to Iraqis, something Mr Bremer is loath to do. … The main reason why Washington does not want to give up any power is the fear that this would ultimately open the way for a takeover by Iraq's Shia Muslims … .

And of course allowing Iraqis to provide their own services and local government would lead instantly to a Shia takeover of the country. Right?

So we let Iraq stew. I wonder how many Iraqis will die this summer when the temperature in Baghdad reaches 140 or so and there's still no electricity.

You know, when I was growing up, I always thought Americans were the good guys. Even as a young adult I clung to that belief, although it was pretty tattered after Viet Nam, Watergate, the Reagan years and the Iran-Contra scandal. Today, though, I know for certain that I was wrong. The good guys don't do things like this.

We're the bad guys.