Tom Friedman, who supported the neo-con pipe dream that led to preemptive war on Iraq, writes today that President Bush should fire Donald Rumsfeld, admit we are losing there and seek other nations' help to save his Mideast policy.
Maureen Dowd, a fierce opponent of the war, chastises Rumsfeld for partying while the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners scandal is on the front page.
I do not think Rumsfeld should be fired.
He is a brilliant guy. As the leaked memo of last year revealed, he is capable of self-doubt. (He wondered, remember, if we were not creating more terrorists than we were killing.)
What we need from Rumsfeld is for him to admit to himself - surely he already is questioning it - that he and the Administration were wrong, profoundly wrong, totally wrong to use 9/11 to pursue that famously stupid idea of changing the Mideast by military force.
And then to persuade Bush and Chaney of the same thing.
Naive of me? No, not unless you belive that Bush, Chaney, Rumsfeld and acolytes are evil. I do not. I think they are profoundly igorant, arrogant and ...well, I could empty a dictionary of insults.
But I believe they think they are doing good.
A scary thought, isn't it? Still, it's been my observation that most horrors are perpetrated with good intentions.
So maybe Rumsfeld can reverse course.