October 02, 2009
Why Normal Americans Hate Washington, D.C., Part MMCIII
From the Washington Post:
One senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the meeting, said, "A lot of assumptions -- and I don't want to say myths, but a lot of assumptions -- were exposed to the light of day."
Wow. Yeah, and I don't want to say "jackass", so I will not say "jackass" and will instead say "senior administration official". Or, better, "senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity to both advance his or her policy aims in the media and insult the commander in Kabul without having to take personal responsibility for doing either".
Oh, wait. That isn't any more polite, is it? (Sorry, Mom.)
Look, if you're going to re-examine the planning assumptions that went into this document following Gen. McChrystal's gloomy report and the even gloomier Afghan elections, fine. I completely understand and support you whole-heartedly. But at least sack up and take responsibility for the fact that you might have been wrong about your assumptions just six months ago when the administration signed off on this white paper.