Accountability

One of the many traits I admire in President Bush is the responsibility he takes for assigning responsibility to others. To wit:

President Bush said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein, not continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is threatening the formation of a democratic government.

In his third speech this month to bolster public support for the war, Bush worked to counter critics who say the U.S. presence in the wartorn nation is fueling the insurgency.

Bush said that Saddam was a tyrant and used violence to exacerbate sectarian divisions to keep himself in power, and that as a result, deep tensions persist to this day.

"The enemies of a free Iraq are employing the same tactics Saddam used, killing and terrorizing the Iraqi people in an effort to foment sectarian division," Bush said.

And I bet he said it authoritatively. Personally, I think Our President was too charitable when assigning blame for Saddam's ongoing treacheries. Afghanistan remains a mess, Mexicans are rioting in our cities' streets, George Clooney will be filming Ocean's 13, and Saddam's fingerprints are over every one of these.