News flash: Iraq is a disaster

He's back in Iraq for one day, and his hell is a far cry from Rummy's version of Iraq:

"It's amazing, it's historic, what's taken place," he said. "Twenty-five million Iraqi people have been liberated, and they have now have a sovereign government. And they've had a successful election, and the hospitals and the schools are open, and they're making good progress on developing a constitution. And they're going to have a final election in December of this year."

Yet, none of these facts is well known to the American public, the secretary said. "They're not as newsworthy, apparently, because (they) don't get reported as much," Rumsfeld said. "What gets reported is that 10 Iraqis are killed (by) a suicide bomber, or an American soldier is killed."

The secretary said the American people can be optimistic about a good outcome in Iraq, but the optimism must be tempered with an understanding of reality. "We have to recognize that it's a tough, tough, tough world, and there are going to be bumps in the road between now and then," he said.

"Bumps in the road"? Just earlier today, presumably before the Iraqi journalist was killed, an Iraqi member of parliament was killed in a car bomb attack. I can't even begin to tell you how many Iraqis have been killed in the weeks I was away. And how many more Iraqis, journalists or otherwise, will die because the Americans can't tell who's friend or foe? Those aren't "bumps in the road." Those are signs that you went off the road without a map a long time ago.