Question: Could Things Have Been Any Worse Than They Are?

From: Center For American Progress:

This weekend marked the six-month anniversary of President Bush's aircraft carrier declaration that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." It was also the deadliest day in post-war Iraq, with 16 U.S. soldiers dying and 20 wounded in one fatal attack . As the NYT Magazine cover story says, the lack of clear planning by the White House is now taking a deadly toll: “It is becoming painfully clear that the American plan - if it can even be dignified with the name - for dealing with postwar Iraq was flawed in its conception and ineptly carried out.” The story reports “what was probably bound to be a difficult aftermath to the war was made far more difficult by blinkered vision and overoptimistic assumptions on the part of the war's greatest partisans within the Bush administration.” The WP reports that, for his part, President Bush “largely ignored the death toll in Iraq” this weekend “referring specifically to Iraq only once in four speeches totaling 72 minutes.” He did say, "When I came into office, morale in the U.S. military was beginning to suffer, so we increased the defense budget" - but that ignored the fact that recent polls show Bush's unilateralist foreign policy has driven down troop morale to alarmingly low levels. Reuters reports ”the triumphal post-war glow in which President Bush once taunted Iraqi militants by saying 'bring them on' has faded” as Iraqi civil Administrator Paul Bremer told CNN this weekend that the situation “is getting worse.” He said, “We've seen a much more sophisticated use of improvised explosive devices against coalition forces.” Last week USA Today reported that Bush said “attacks in Iraq are a reaction to progress” (Bush: “The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react”), strangely saying more terrorism is a sign of success in Iraq. But as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said, “When there's a rocket attack on the Rashid Hotel when the deputy Defense [secretary] is there, it is not a sign that we're winning. 'Duhhh,' as my kids say.”

Answer: Yes, things could have been worse: The fourth hijacked airliner could have hit the Capitol Building (the intended target) rather than a field in Pennsylvania. God only knows how "we" would have responded then. Probably would have gone "nucular" with Congress' backing.