A Thousand Little Errors or One Big One

Seemingly unaware of the general consensus, Condoleezza Rice has finally admitted that the US has made, or has "probably made," thousands of what she described as "tactical errors" in its prosecution of the war in Iraq. She didn't do this on US soil, though, and saved this non-revelation for her British audience. The admission at this time indicates a condition that might best be described as being behind the curve.

Unconcerned that the entire, ill-fated misadventure has generally been called the biggest strategic blunder of modern times, something that former CPA administrator L. Paul Bremer even admitted , Rice assured us all that going into Iraq was still a good thing because Hussein "wasn't going anywhere without military intervention," which apparently is now the only reason needed to justify the invasion. This has been a standard White House talking point since things started going to hell shortly after the invasion. Unfortunately for Rice and anyone else who would echo this callow crap, military experts like Delta Force founder Sergeant Major Eric Haney put things into the proper perspective:

Q: What's your assessment of the war in Iraq?

A: Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. (Army Gen.) Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and ... pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward.

We have fomented civil war in Iraq. We have probably fomented internecine war in the Muslim world between the Shias and the Sunnis....

Meanwhile, as thousands protested Rice's presence in the UK, the Secretary uttered some similiarly disingenuous and empty-headed rhetoric that the demonstrations bespoke democracy:

People have the right to protest, that's what democracy is all about. I would say to those who wish to protest, by all means.

Of course, she doesn't really mean "by all means," as the administration she works for chooses very directly when and where protests will be tolerated in her own country, at least when George Bush is within earshot. She also is apparently unaware that the renewed Patriot Act has now criminalized demonstration in the United States.

For the Secretary of State to claim that the right to protest is "what democracy is all about," is, if nothing else, a tad off the mark. No, Condi, what democracy is all about is the right of the citizenry to vote your miserable, self-serving asses out of office. And there has been very little evidence that that can or will happen anymore in this country.