The same Elisabeth Bumiller article in today’s New York Times to which I referred in the post below (“In the Balance: Rumsfeld’s Job”), includes this perspective on the future of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld from within the National Security Council:

“He appears to have become a liability for the president, and has complicated the mission in Iraq,” the person close to [Condoleezza] Rice said, adding that Ms. Rice, like the president, is leaving options open: “They’re waiting to see what the system will bear, and if the story dies down after today, Rumsfeld survives.” [Emphasis added.]

Wishful thinking, that.

Why would the “story” suddenly “die down”? Because today is Saturday?

Secretary Rumsfeld did little yesterday to assuage lawmakers that the situation in Iraqi prisons is under control, let alone the world’s perception of the problem. He said, and I quote:

There are other photos that depict incidents of physical violence toward prisoners, acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman. There are many more photographs and indeed some videos. Congress and the American people and the rest of the world need to know this.

This “story,” this disgrace, isn’t going to die. There’s more to come, not only in the media, but in the thousands of terrorists these errant thugs conceived.

By the way, what does the “CACI” in CACI International Inc. (“Ever Vigilant”) stand for? Cooperative Adjunct to Central Intelligence?

And another by the way: Why does Microsoft Word’s function for checking one’s spelling, at least in my version, skim over “Condoleezza” but flag “Rumsfeld”?