"New Realities" On Planet Rumsfeld

Rummy has been spinning pure madness in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. Get out your barf-bags before reading this little sample:

What complicates the ability to respond quickly is that, unlike our enemies, which propagate lies with impunity -- with no penalty whatsoever -- our government does not have the luxury of relying on other sources for information -- anonymous or otherwise. Our government has to be the source. And we tell the truth...

The conclusion is drawn that there is no tolerance for innovation, much less any human error that could conceivably be seized upon by a press that seems to demand perfection from the government, but does not apply the same standard to the enemy or even sometimes to themselves.

Among other shite, Rummy said the Pentagon program to plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers was a mistake, that he personally was not initially aware of its existence (why not?), and that it had been completely shut down. The Los Angeles Times calls his comments "mistaken":

One person familiar with Lincoln Group's operations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation, said the program in Iraq was still active as of a week ago.

Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said during a Dec. 16 news conference — more than two weeks after the existence of the operation was revealed — that it had not been shut down.

Scott Horton at the Antiwar.com Blog has a video and transcript of the speech, plus some suitably outraged response.