Remember Last November, When the Abu Ghraib Scandal Broke?

What, you say? Wasn't that just a couple of weeks ago?

Well, not if you worked in the Pentagon or the White House. From Bob Harris, guestblogging for Tom Tomorrow:

The U.S. Army determined that "hundreds of Iraqi prisoners were held in Abu Ghraib prison for prolonged periods despite a lack of evidence" -- last November 5th.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross gave the Army a detailed catalog of sexual and physical abuse at Abu Gharib -- last November 6th.

As far as I can tell, you had to read both the NY Times and the LA Times to get both stories and see the dates line up. But now we know: six months before the world recoiled in horror, the Pentagon absolutely knew what was going on. All of it. And nothing changed.

So: six extra months of imprisonment for hundreds of innocents. Six extra months of continued sexual and physical abuse. Six extra months of teaching Iraqis to hate us.

Who's the Commander-In-Chief of the U.S. Army, incidentally? Just asking. Because, gee, I don't know who the hell you blame for something like this.

Harris also comments on Iyad Allawi, Iraq's puppet-du-jour:

Meanwhile, this Iyad Allawi guy, the new bigshot in Iraq? A well-known Baathist and CIA tool, so the Shiite majority is obviously gonna just adore him. Because there's nothing Iraqis like better than having a Baathist in charge. Or a CIA puppet. So this is really the best of both worlds for them.

There are limits to competence. But apparently there are no limits to incompetence.