Michael Coleman, the Albuquerque Journal's Washgton Bureau reporter, writes today that Rep. Heather Wilson is throwing tough questions at the Pentagon on the military's abuses in Iraq, unlike certain other House Republicans.
(I love what passes for journalism these days. Coleman thinks what happened in Abu Ghraib prison, according to sworn testimony and pictures, is properly described as "alleged abuse.")
My point, however, is that Wilson was and remains a supporter of the all-but-unilateral preemptive strike on Iraq. So what did she expect? What did the others expect?
I know she is an Air Force veteran, but she never saw war. Nor did the others - not George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Scotter Libby. The only lead actor who did, Colin Powell, was unenthusiastic. A few generals who doubted the war or Rumsfeld's strategy or his views on post-war Iraq are no longer in the Pentagon. Think Shinseki.
"Experience is the best teacher," according to the old saw.
That's good, but we need a new adage to keep it company. Something like "Certainty leads to disaster." Or, "Doubt is the first sign of rationality."
Your suggestions are welcome.