Smackdown!

It's nice to see Nir Rosen's take-down of L. Paul Bremer's pitiful attempt to defend himself after the fact in the Washington Post. Basically, Bremer is jumping on the bandwagon of finger-pointers who failed in this Iraq War debacle. Perhaps his most absurd claim is that his critics don't understand Iraq, the implication being that he does. Absurd, because this claim is prefaced by a fantastical extended analogy equating the Hussein regime with Nazi Germany, clear evidence that Bremer's in over his head. Rosen's choicest tidbit:

In Bremer's mind, the way to occupy Iraq was not to view it as a nation but as a group of minorities. So he pitted the minority that was not benefiting from the system against the minority that was, and then expected them both to be grateful to him. Bremer ruled Iraq as if it were already undergoing a civil war, helping the Shiites by punishing the Sunnis. He did not see his job as managing the country; he saw it as managing a civil war. So I accuse him of causing one.

Thanks to Alif Sikkiin!