WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — With less than a week before the election, President Bush sought to rally Republican voters on Wednesday with a vigorous defense of the war in Iraq and a vow to keep Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in office until the end of Mr. Bush’s term.

Hrm. That campaign promise didn't last long.

Bush, Trying to Rally Base, Defends Rumsfeld

Kenneth Adelman:

"The most dispiriting and awful moment of the whole administration was the day that Bush gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to [former CIA director] George Tenet, General Tommy Franks, and [Coalition Provisional Authority chief] Jerry [Paul] Bremer -- three of the most incompetent people who've ever served in such key spots. And they get the highest civilian honor a president can bestow on anyone!

That was the day I checked out of this administration.

It was then I thought, There's no seriousness here, these are not serious people.

If he had been serious, the president would have realized that those three are each directly responsible for the disaster of Iraq."

Remember this?

The fact that the President gives these people personal audience is troubling. They are not serious people. Does the president take them seriously? Does he take their counsel?

Neo Culpa: Politics & Power

Today seems like a good day to re-recommend Rumsfeld's last public snowflake.

It was never going to be an easy mission. Not all the news about Afghanistan is encouraging. And yet, for all of the challenges the Afghan people face, there are many promising indicators.

Building a new nation is never a straight, steady climb upward. Today can sometimes look worse than yesterday -- or even two months ago. What matters is the overall trajectory: Where do things stand today when compared to what they were five years ago?

In Afghanistan, the trajectory is a hopeful and promising one.

A few Afghanistan news tidbits:

Kiwi Troops Destroy Opium In Afghanistan

They didn't actually seize it, but they did a really good job burning it.

Afghanistan mission worthwhile, Clinton tells luncheon audience

Bill Clinton today affirmed the need for American and Canadian forces to stay in Afghanistan.

Clinton said that it had been a "serious mistake" for the United States to invade Iraq at the same time that it also had troops involved in Afghanistan.

Winning in Afghanistan is "far, far more important, in terms of protecting Canada and America against terror," than Iraq, he said.

I'm sure that sounds snappy at a luncheon, but exactly how do you "win" Afghanistan? At least Iraqis can sell oil. It seems to me the best you can hope for is to stave off failure indefinitely.

Setting those poppies on fire is about as productive as a flag burning protest. What are we doing to encourage a stronger civil society in Afghanistan? At least Pakistani newspapers make room for Britney. Are you going to see that in the Afghan press?

Afghanistan: Five Years Later, By Donald H. Rumsfeld

I recommended this book, Failing To Win, a few weeks ago. The book sounds like a miss, but the authors argue some interesting points.

The 1992-94 US intervention in Somalia, in which military forces were sent "to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Somalia," is "usually judged as an unmitigated failure."

Yet Operation Restore Hope is "widely acknowledged to have saved the lives of tens or hundreds of thousands of Somalis."

What most people remember is "the infamous 'Black Hawk Down' battle in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in early October 1993, in which 18 US soldiers were killed." Although that battle, which took place during the Clinton administration, resulted in US forces' "killing perhaps fifty opponents for every loss of their own," the images of dead American soldiers dragged through the streets left a deep impression on both the US public and the White House. A poll soon afterward found that only 25 percent of Americans considered the intervention in Somalia successful.

Because the Somalia operation came to be viewed as, the authors assert, "the greatest US failure since Vietnam," the Clinton administration declined to intervene half a year later in Rwanda, thus arguably permitting a genocide of about 800,000 people to proceed without interference.

Bottom line: "winning" is complicated business.

On Books | In world politics, when is a loss a win?

Last week I recommended a news story about the madrasa raid in Pakistan.

Stratfor is now reporting that Ayman al-Zawahiri was the intended target of this attack, which is said to have killed 80 people.

Initial reports suggested that he may have been hit. Now it is looking less likely, but he has not been heard from since the attack.

If Zawahiri is still alive, we should expect to see a new "proof of life" video within the next week.

This Stratfor article explores succession planning within al Qaeda Central.

In the interim, however, there is a question to be pondered: What if "proof of life" does not emerge? ... Supposing that al-Zawahiri could have been killed by the recent airstrike -- or will killed be by a future airstrike in the same region -- who might emerge to fill the power void?

Al Qaeda: The Next Generation

The reality is that, despite fears that our children are "pumped full of chemicals" everything is made of chemicals, down to the proteins, hormones and genetic materials in our cells.

And although some fret about the "cocktails" of chemicals we are exposed to, a potent brew of complex chemicals is present in a humble cup of tea — which contains healthy polyphenols, for example.

This is even better than the last story about politicians winning the mid term election, because it's not supposed to be a joke!

Telegraph | News | 'The reality is that everything is made of chemicals'

"It looks like politicians are poised to dominate the political discourse of the country for years to come," said analyst Maria Lawson of the Free Enterprise Institute.

"While it's still too early to tell, after the success of this election, it might not be too long before we see another politician in the White House."

Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections

It's hard not to see this as a political act.

Disney distributes Election-week 'Complimentary Issue' of Sunday NYT

Let Karl know that you’re not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has — through sheer incompetence — brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.

Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.

It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are.

I, for one, don’t think we’re that stupid. Next Tuesday we’ll see.

Should it bother me that I am warming to Keith Olbermann's special comments?

Insulting Our Troops, and Our Intelligence | Tom Friedman

An interesting way of watching the focus of history change.

US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud