Iraq: The Result of Inability to Dream

By Lee Russ

Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 09:03 PM

For someone with her education and background, Condoleezza Rice has always seemed a bit "off" to me--as though she has a whole world inside her head which has nothing at all to do with the world outside of her head.

And she has certainly had her share of quotes that are stunning in their obviousness or their obliviousness. Here's a doozy, which combines the stunning with the oblivious (emphasis added):

Iraq has been very tough. Tougher than any of us had dreamed. We can never replace the people who have been lost. We can never do anything to soothe the pain of the family and friends that they have left behind, but we are seeing a change in Iraq for the better.

Not only is it tougher than they anticipated, tougher than they had any plan to deal with, but tougher than they “dreamed.”

Ahh, the danger of having unimaginative, literal, narrow minded dullards in positions of immense power. People who “make their own reality” had damn well better have better imaginitive equipment than this crew.

I can almost see the intense meetings of Bush and Company.

"How do you think the invasion will go?"

"It'll go the way we make it go, of course. Reality. We make it."

"Do you think there will be any trouble after we chase Saddam away?"

"Trouble? Why in the world would I make trouble?"

"Not you. The Iraqi people."

"What are you talking about? We decide what reality is, not the Iraqi people."

"But what if the Iraqis don't know that?"

"Now why would I make a reality in which the Iraqis don't know that? You seem kind of slow, boy, better get yourself to a hitchin' post and hang on to this new reality we're about to fling at those Iraqis."

Kind of reminds me of the old song lyrics, "yes sir, no sir, where should I go, sir?"

We all know where that is now, right?