Sunday, June 29, 2003

Which Grownup can't find the WMDs?

From May of 2002:

Mr. Rumsfeld has tackled some of those problems since taking office last year. A Washington veteran who served as defense chief under Gerald Ford, his acerbic manner at first chafed at underlings when he reentered the job. But after 9/11, Mr. Rumsfeld's no-nonsense rhetorical style and utter disdain for political hokum came across as just what the country needed. (His candor so charmed the press that the liberal magazine Vanity Fair recently featured the conservative defense secretary on its cover. The photo, which also pictured Gulf War masterminds Dick Cheney and Colin Powell, imparted the distinct impression that, well, grownups were now in charge of matters of state.)

Today:

Sunday, Jun. 29, 2003
Meeting last month at a sweltering U.S. base outside Doha, Qatar, with his top Iraq commanders, President Bush skipped quickly past the niceties and went straight to his chief political obsession: Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Turning to his Baghdad proconsul, Paul Bremer, Bush asked, "Are you in charge of finding WMD?" Bremer said no, he was not. Bush then put the same question to his military commander, General Tommy Franks. But Franks said it wasn't his job either. A little exasperated, Bush asked, So who is in charge of finding WMD? After aides conferred for a moment, someone volunteered the name of Stephen Cambone, a little-known deputy to Donald Rumsfeld, back in Washington. Pause. "Who?" Bush asked.

I’m just glad the grownups are in charge now. Aren’t you?

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