I hate being right

I've been thinking that the news out of Abu Ghraib was going to cost American lives, and I can't say being right is a big thrill. Particularly noisome, however, is the argument that today's news proves that disclosing the prison abuses was bad. Like the Iraqis didn't know what was going on? Some people were being released from Abu Ghraib - were they going to be silent forever on what the interrogators were up to?

Equally noisome is the 'aha, Al Qaida is so in Iraq' claims being trumpeted by the right-wing echo chamber. Well, duh ... yeah, they're there NOW. We've created a wondrously lawless playground for them to romp in and tons of new recruits.

Sadly, I don't think the administration has a clue how to fix the mess they've made; it's not clear that it's even fixable. But the boys who made the mess are the last ones I'd trust to deal with it. While there's something to be said for the 'you made your bed, you lie in it' school of learning wisdom, unfortunately, the authors of our disaster aren't having to lie in it. Other people's children are.