More Blame to Spread Around

Here is what the President said yesterday by way of explaining why Iraq is such a mess:

We overestimated the capability of the civil service in Iraq to continue to provide essential services to the Iraqi people. ... We did not expect the Iraqi army, including the Republican Guard, to melt away in the way that it did in the face of advancing coalition forces."

Wait a minute. I have quite a distinct memory that it was Paul Bremer (Head of the CPA) and company who decided to disband the civil service and the army. The decision was controversial at the time because analysts were concerned about precisely this scenario. Bremer went ahead with the decision because he thought the civil service and army were still loyal to Saddam.

Also, isn't it a little silly to, in effect, argue that the Iraqis are somehow to blame because they did not step up after we decimated their country with an invading force.