Just Call Me Cynical

Timothy Carney's experience in Iraq is an interesting one. Three and a half years ago he was part of the initial reconstruction effort but ended up quiting after just a few months. The reason was that Paul Bremer--the U.S. viceroy for Iraq the first year--was hindering efforts to reconstruct the battered country.

Upon his return to the United States, he began warning that progress on getting Iraq back on its feet was virtually nonexistent. And his reward? His wife lost a government contract, and it appeared Carney's days of working for the government were over.

But he's back in Iraq as the new coordinator of the American reconstruction effort. Indeed, Carney is but one of several former Iraq dissenters that Bush has turned to in an effort to stabilize Iraq.

Again, this raises an important question: Why has the President waited this long to get things back on the right track? It has been obvious for the last two years that Iraq was progressively deteriorating, yet the White House team kept telling us that things were hunky-dory and that the press was exaggerating the problems.

Would it be cynical to suggest that maybe the Bush team didn't want to admit its mistakes before the congressional elections? Would it be cynical to think that maybe Bush kept sacrificing American lives--as well as the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians--because he didn't want to admit until AFTER the elections that he had screwed up?

And would it be cynical to suggest that maybe by waiting this long, and allowing the sense of frustration and despair among the Iraqi people to become even more entrenched, Bush has already ensured our defeat?