The State of Affairs

This morning's news tells us that Donald Rumsfeld has gone to Iraq. No doubt, it is to show us how concerned he his about the debacle he created. The administration has no one to blame but itself for this terrible, terrible mess. It can all be traced to arrogance. Supreme and extreme arrogance.

Dubya the cowboy's: "You're either with us or against us" attitude, conveyed through layers and layers of the chain of command (isn't he the "commander in chief?") The equating of Iraqui insurgents and combatants as Sadam-ists and terrorists; lumping everyone together in crowded understaffed prisons--exhausted, ill-trained reservists, frustrated, and ill-prepared for this duty--a recipe for THIS disaster.

Rumsfeld's dismissal of the Geneva conventions for some (ah yes, terrorists)--but with line between terrorist and legitimate combatant very very blurred by everyone from Scott McLellan to Rummy, to Wolfy to Dubya, himself. How in the heck are the privates supposed to understand where the faded and blurred line is drawn? Even the military brass and Pentagon civillians don't know who controls the prisons: regular military or millitary intelligence?

Or is it that now that the horror has been exposed for what it is, is the administration feigning disbelief, when, in fact, it really more than understood what was happening in Abu Ghraib? Nod, nod, wink, wink. Maybe now that the world is outraged, and the torture of prisoners has gotten out beyond the reach of the Bush administration secrecy, the administration has to be shocked. Really to acknowledge something it's already known about, but believed was safely secure secret that the sheep in most of the media and the cowed and terrified legislative branch wouldn't question? Now that it's out, it's time to acknowledge the adminstration's role in creating the kind of atmosphere in which atrocities were allowed and encouraged? We must keep this front and center as spring moves into summer and fall. The Dubya adminstration has made one mistake after the next, taking good will and squandering it, getting away with it and going on to the next disastrous move. We cannot forget this; we cannot let the press forget it and most of all we cannot let the voters forget this by November!

End of rant