It Was Just a Mistake, That's All

I'm trying to work up a little sympathy for the Democratic leaders of the Congress. So far, I haven't had much success. They are in a tough corner, but it's a corner into which they painted themselves. Consider the oft-used (most recently by Mrs. Clinton) formulation, "If I had known then what I know now, I would never have voted to turned Bush loose on Iraq." On one level, I'm sure they're being honest. Most people expected Gulf War II to be the same sort of quick and cost-free glory-fest as Gulf War I was. Congressional Democrats certainly wanted to reserve their spots in the Glory Parade, and so -- with one or two honorable exceptions -- they signed on. Now that the thing has gone putridly bad, they're calling it a "mistake:"

After months of heated rhetoric slamming President Bush's Iraq policy, the Senate's top Democrat moved into new terrain by declaring the Iraq war a worse blunder than Vietnam.

"This war is a serious situation. It involves the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"So we should take everything seriously. We find ourselves in a very deep hole and we need to find a way to dig out of it."

Asked whether he considers it a worse blunder than Vietnam, Reid responded, "Yes."

Comparisons to Vietnam are nothing new, but a "worse than" designation from a top lawmaker is.

Ah, yes. A "blunder." A "mistake." Not a protracted war crime -- oh, no! Just a little boo-boo. Everybody makes mistakes, right?

Well, not so fast, says that Republican intellectual resource, Tony Snow:

White House spokesman Tony Snow told CNN he disagrees with Reid's characterization.

"In point of fact, it was important to get Saddam Hussein out of power," Snow told "Late Edition."

"Yeah, the war is tough. But the solution is not to get out. It is to provide the kinds of resources and reinforcements our forces need to get the job done, and at the same time say to the Iraqis, 'You guys gotta step up.'"

I suppose that whether you'd describe the war as "tough" or not would depend on whether you're being killed or maimed thereby, or whether you're a White House Spokesman.

Meanwhile, let's hear from another Democrat:

"I believe it's one of the worst blunders, certainly is," New Mexico's Democratic Governor Bill Richardson told "Late Edition." "And the focus now should be on how we can get our troops out and leave Iraq with a chance for sustainability in the future."

He then added, "But I do agree with that because our obsession with Iraq has cost us enormous amounts of prestige ... around the world. But also the fact that we haven't focused on the real challenges facing this country: international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, North Korea, Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian issue."

Richardson is considering a presidential run in 2008.

Oh, yes -- I'll bet he is.