“During the 2004 presidential race, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney attacked John Kerry for suggesting that the war in Iraq was making America less safe. ‘The logic is upside-down,’ the president said during one campaign stop. ‘See, we don’t create enemies and terrorists by fighting back. We defeat the terrorists by fighting back.’

Now, we understand that the accountability moment on Iraq has come and gone, but we wonder if the president will take note of some words from a general on the ground anyway. As the Los Angeles Times reports today, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the U.S. commander in charge of day-to-day military operations in Iraq, is telling his troops: ‘We have to understand that the way we treat Iraqis has a direct effect on the number of insurgents that we are fighting. For every one that I kill, I create almost 10 more.'” — Tim Grieve (Salon)

“Let’s not forget that we we’re in this fix because we have a President whose greatest skill is playing dress-up.

The bullhorn at Ground Zero. The flight suit on the Lincoln. The Heath Ledger gear at the ranch.

A little boy, totally over his head, who likes to role-play. The Wizard of Oz. A guy who, if he had your job, couldn’t last a week.

Once upon a time, these would be called judgments. Now they are just the facts.” (BeliefNet )