The internet gave the coup de grace to the system and displaced it, and though it's still accessed by millions each year, France Telecom will pull the plug once and for all this Saturday.
This latest loan, coupled with the public relations disaster of the San Francisco Giants fan who is still fighting for his life while hospitalized after a beating suffered at a Dodgers game earlier this year, and Mr. Selig had to pull the plug.
As Petreaus and Crocker warned this week, if the US Congress or the next administration decides to pull the plug on American-led efforts in Iraq, the results will be horrendous.