Understatement of the Year

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admits "down side" to Iraq and the administration's terror policy.

"These are people who want to fight against us, and they're going to find a reason. And yes, they will recruit, but it doesn't mean you stop pursuing strategies that are ultimately going to stop them," Rice said.

She insisted U.S. forces must finish the job in Iraq and the wider Middle East to wipe out the "root cause" of violent extremism - not just the terror thugs who carry out the attacks.

"It's a longer-term strategy, and it may even have some short-term down side, but if you don't look at the longer term, you're just leaving the problem to somebody else," she said. [emphasis all me]

Thousands dead, billions out of our bank account, new extremists up the wazoo, that is Condi's down side. It's a statement that's almost as insensitive as Decider's comma crack. These guys really have no clue.

And as far as "leaving the problem to somebody else," boy I wish they had. Somebody else more competent.

Take a minute, read the rest of Rice and her talking-point response to Bill.

UPDATE: Think Progress has more on Condi's PDB free claims that Bush’s Pre-9/11 anti-terror efforts were "at least as aggressive" as Clinton’s.