Errors and Blunders
by Paul R. Hollrah
May 6, 2007

 

 

So, okay, Wall Street Journal, exactly what “major blunders” are you referring to?  Why would one of the few responsible and respected newspapers in the country jump onto that tired old left wing bandwagon, claiming that “mistakes” and “major blunders” have been made, without being specific about the charges? 

 

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines “mistake” as: “1. To misapprehend, misunderstand, or misconceive.  2. To substitute erroneously in thought or perception; as, to mistake James for John.  3. To err, in recognizing, estimating, etc.”

 

The dictionary defines “blunder” as: “1. To move confusedly or clumsily; to flounder and stumble.  2. To make a serious error or commit a fault, through ignorance, stupidity, overconfidence, or confusion.”

 

So just what is a “mistake,” and what is a “blunder” in today’s politically charged atmosphere?  If George W. Bush or Dick Cheney were to say, “Rosie O’Donnell is a big fat pig,” who could argue with that?  She’s big, she’s fat, and she’s certainly piggish. 

 

But what if Bush and Cheney, having no personal knowledge to the contrary, were to say, “The CIA, British MI6, Israeli Mossad, and Saudi Intelligence have all assured us that Ms. O’Donnell is a kind and generous person, that she has done wondrous things in the interest of international peace and justice,” and, acting on that information, they declared her a national treasure and gave her a medal for her public service, how would we characterize that?  Certainly, it would be a mistake… but whose mistake?

 

They certainly could not be charged with “misapprehending,” “misunderstanding,” or “misconceiving.”   They couldn’t be charged with “substituting erroneously” an alternative judgment, and on what basis would they have erred in “recognizing or estimating.”  So while some may say they made a “mistake,” the definition doesn’t quite fit.

 

So could we say, accurately, that they’ve “blundered” in the conduct of the war?  We can’t say that they’ve moved “confusedly or clumsily.”  The commanders in the field have given the Pentagon their best estimates of needs and requirements on a daily basis and the administration has always responded positively.  The fact is, once the Congress approved the war powers resolution our military forces moved quickly and decisively to overcome the Iraqi forces. 

 

Is it fair to say that they’ve “floundered and stumbled?”  No, not really.  What many in the media and the Democratic leadership see as floundering and stumbling is nothing more than an army confronting obstacles in the field, the nature of which they had no way of knowing in advance. 

 

And finally, have they made serious errors because of “ignorance, stupidity, overconfidence, or confusion?”  There is not a more knowledgeable or better-prepared man in America, in terms of the global threat and the military organization required to meet it, than Donald H. Rumsfeld.  There is not a man or woman in America who is more experienced in business and government or who has a greater capacity for leadership than Don Rumsfeld.  Anyone who would think that the words “ignorance,” “stupidity,” “overconfidence,” or “confusion” could possibly apply to any organization run by Rumsfeld is… well, a fool.

 

Instead, what we have is an atmosphere in which, because the American left operates the most finely-tuned propaganda machine since the Third Reich, it has merely become “fashionable” to say that the Bush Administration has made “mistakes” or that it has “blundered” in its conduct of the war.  Yet, not one of the critics has ever provided specifics.  They totally ignore the fact that every war, like every political campaign, is nothing more than a series of blunders and foul-ups, all of which must be corrected quickly and on the run.  

 

Has Bush made mistakes?  Has he blundered?  Absolutely!  More times than anyone would care to recount.  His failure to protect America’s borders has been conscious and deliberate.  His failure to control spending by riding herd on congressional Republicans was a huge mistake, a mistake that probably cost Republicans control of Congress. . 

 

When the Gulf Coast was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, the federal government responded exactly as it should have, but when Democrats blamed FEMA for what was clearly a failure of state and local government, Bush sheepishly accepted blame.  And when he’s been in a position to take advantage of overwhelming public support to advance conservative issues and party fortunes, time and time again he has ignored that advantage. 

 

When he took office in 2001 he mistakenly retained George Tenet, a Clinton appointee, as his Director of Central Intelligence, and when a seriously impaired CIA provided less than adequate intelligence on the Middle East, the president publicly decorated Tenet, awarding him the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.   

 

Criticize George Bush if you will, there is much to criticize… but not for the way in which he has prosecuted the War on Terror.  Those who do are simply working on another agenda.