Standard Operating Procedure

U.S. Plans to Name A New Commander

President Bush plans to appoint a new, higher-ranking military commander for Iraq, capping an overhaul of the command structure that is likely to replace Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez as the top general on the ground there, Pentagon and other administration officials said yesterday.

Sanchez has been besieged lately by questions about his oversight of detainee operations in Iraq, especially his role in the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. But administration officials said the move to install a new four-star commander has been under consideration for months, well before the mistreatment of detainees became major news.

Talk about steady leadership in times of change! This is a classic BushCo move. Try something, screw it up big time, resist change due to the fact that you claim nothing is wrong, then cave to pressure with a change and say that was the plan all along. Riiiiight. I'll buy that for a dollar.

Is it that hard to say you're wrong? Even once?