Wrong and Wronger

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: Iraq at Four Years: The Past is Indeed Prologue | The Huffington Post: "...Here's what Richard Perle said in September of 2003: 'A year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush.'

When former Congressman Tom Andrews, now director of the Win Without War coalition, reminded Perle of this on Meet the Press, the Prince of Darkness said: 'Well, I'm, I'm not going to debate your characterization of the history of our previous exchanges, which I think are... not accurate. I never anticipated a five year occupation...'

But Andrews was quoting him accurately, so why are we still listening to Perle, a man clearly incapable of admitting he was wrong?

Let's make it a rule: until someone is willing to take responsibility for their past mistakes, they should not be allowed to consume precious media oxygen offering advice about the future

On March 26, 2003, just days after the U.S. invaded Iraq, I wrote a column about Perle ("the frothing pit bull of the Bush administration's dogs of war,") in which I detailed his myriad conflicts of interest in having a financial stake in the war effort and advising the Pentagon on policy. "Perle's abuse of the public interest," I wrote, "is in a class by itself." It was enough to make me ask, "And this is the guy our president is putting his trust in when it comes to waging war on Iraq?"

And, as a country, we're still listening to people who should have lost all credibility by now. If you were responsible for getting us into this mess, and you still won't acknowledge it, then how can you be part of the solution? If you refuse to see the past clearly, how can we trust you with the future? ..."

Comprehensive time and person line in this post.