Speaking of cognitive dissonance, the Bush administration continues to merrily amble forward as the situation in Iraq degrades and the stench of American abuse of prisoners grows.
Earlier today, President Bush blandly stated that "free elections will proceed as planned." . At the same time he was issuing this pablum, the New York Times and The Guardian reported that a cable from the departing CIA station chief in Baghdad alerted Washington to the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground in Iraq. In addition, a September Pentagon report stated that the U.S. is clearly losing the battle for hearts and minds. To make matters worse, Bush ally King Abdullah of Jordan openly questioned whether the January 30, 2005 target date for elections can be met. Compounding matters further, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf flatly stated that Bush's Iraq gamble had made the world "less safe."
The administration's head in the sand attitude extends to the festering prisoner abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Memos released by the ACLU today showed that witnesses reported abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo in June. This revelation, added to the latest prisoner pictures inadvertently made available over the Internet by a Navy SEAL, only exacerbates American shame worldwide.
For more background on Iraq, Abu Ghraib and the rest of the sad tale of Bush's denial, see the complete "Bush Document Library."