Rummy Gets Honest

The New York Daily News -- no "liberal" organ, this! -- covered Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon press briefing with unusual candor. Rumsfeld actually admitted he made an error, which has got to be a first for this administration! "I certainly would not have estimated that we would have had the number of individuals lost that we have had lost in the last week," Rumsfeld said.

Well, okay, NOT exactly an admission of error, but about as close as one gets with this crew.

This was the press briefing, incidentally, when Rummy was announcing that -- oops! -- "we lied" to about 21,000 American troops in telling them they'd be able to go home now. "You got 90 more days in hell, boys, courtesy of General John Abizaid," who actually called this administration's bluff. Bush and Rumsfeld had been saying all along that they'd be pleased as punch to send more troops to Iraq, but golly, gosh, gee, the generals over there just keep saying, "We've got a world enough and plenty of soldiers to pacify this little sorry-assed country." Then Abizaid took over and had the gall to say, that well, yes, he COULD use more troops, dammit, and Bush&Rummy get around that particular dilemma by NOT sending more troops but by the cruel and unusual punishment of making guys who've already been there a freaking YEAR stay on another 90 days. At least. Cool move! Cool war! Could we have another one, if we say "Pretty please"?