Rummy's Still Getting It Wrong

CNN reports that "U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday tried to dispel concern over the possibility that a civil war could erupt in Iraq between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs." Rummy continued, "You can always find someone who's going to try to be a dead-ender and say, 'If you don't do this, I won't do that.' But that's part of negotiation. We see that in the Congress and we see it in democratic systems all over the world."

What we don't see in Congress, however, is the government saying, "Feh, we'll just not consider the views of Episcopalians in drafting a constitution," which is at least somewhat what's going on with respect to the draft Iraq constitution and the Sunni minority.

That said, "Rumsfeld noted that the constitutional draft gives a nod to both democracy and Islamic principles." Of course, the democratic principle it gives a "nod" to applies much more to Shiites and Kurds than it does to Sunnis, and the Islamic principles toward which it "nods" include the application of Islamic law to the family, which isn't doing Iraqi women any favors (to put it nicely), notwithstanding that the mistreatment of women is one of the many post hoc reasons Bush 43 has touted to rig up popular support for the war.

Finally, Rummy noted, "that while the specter of civil war should draw attention and concern, 'I haven't seen anything to indicate that the risk is greater today than it was yesterday or the day before.'

Um, Rummy? Have you read the news today? Because it looks as though the coordinated insurgent offensive in Baghdad that Seymour Hersh, whose nailed you guys every which way but loose in the past couple of years, predicted on the Daily Show early last week is underway.

As for the risk diminishing or holding steady, tell that to the 73 Americans KIA so far this month. Or maybe just send their families letters indicating same; let your secretaries and your automated signature machine do the heavy lifting.