Duh

Leaked sections of a recent National Intelligence Estimate told reality-based Americans what they already knew--our invasion and occupation of Iraq has clearly and substantially increased the scope and threat of terrorism.

That damning assessment coincided with a hearing conducted by Congressional Democrats frustrated by the refusal of Republicans to properly oversee the executive branch. The hearing featured retired military leaders, many of whom served on the ground in Iraq, discussing the incompetence of our civilian leadership.

Retired General Batiste, former commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, put the blame for our failings squarely on Donald Rumsfeld. As the occupation commenced, according to Batiste, Rummy threatened to fire the next person who mentioned the need for a postwar plan in Iraq.

Apparently, Rummy and his neo-con posse were so taken by their own “greeted-as-liberators” B.S. that they not only failed to plan, but shamed and bullied anyone who had the audacity to second guess their so-called strategy by suggesting any post-war plan.

That Donald Rumsfeld remains in office is a testament to the monumental incompetence of the entire Bush Administration and demonstrates that they are incapable of grasping and acknowledging their failures, much less taking responsibility for them.

White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend, interviewed today by Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, was a showcase of the current Bush team’s twisted, immoral logic.

When asked about President Clinton’s assertion that he did everything he could to get Bin Laden, Townsend said that Clinton’s was a “legalistic, evidentiary type of approach, where as we know President Bush has not taken that approach…”. Yes, we know that neither Bush nor his Attorney General Gonzalez seem to care about evidence or legalistic principles. Those they suspect of wrongdoing are simply prejudged to be guilty and denied due process.

When asked whether Iraq has created more terrorists, Townsend revealed that “we know that if the Jihadists don’t win in the war in Iraq, they face ultimate defeat. And that’s why it’s good for us to stay.” In other words, if we kill every last terrorist in Iraq, Al Qaeda will simply dry up and blow away. Really?

Except that for every terrorist we kill, three more spring up to replace them, and Al Qaeda has already metastasized into countless cancerous cells operating autonomously around the world. But if recent history is a guide, Townsend will likely be among the last to grasp or admit these inconvenient facts--facts that annihilate her Homeland Security fantasy.

Townsend ultimately described the Jihad mentality as one that “uses violence as a means to achieve its end.” But so does the Bush Administration. Frightened by the thought of actual diplomacy, Bush and his wimp-turned-bully cabinet have no choice but to bomb and invade countries that hold strategic importance. So by Townsend’s definition, our President’s mentality is not much different from a Jihadi.

And until we change that mentality from the top down, we will continue to project our power in ways that damage our credibility, create resentment and terror, produce untold suffering, and garner short-term political gain at the expense of long-term American prosperity and security. Duh.

- JT Compton