Rice: US in Iraq for a generation

This will come as news to anyone in touch with reality. A mountain of White House quotes are out there in which good, honest men like Cheney and Rumsfeld state that US involvement in Iraq would be short and sweet. But the Ministry of Disinformation has decided to tweak those rosy assessments just a tiny bit:

Condolleeza Rice on Fox News, 6/19: "[T]he administration, I think, has said to the American people that it is a generational commitment to Iraq."

That would be a lie.

Vice President Dick Cheney, 3/16/03:

[M]y belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go relatively quickly. . . (in) weeks rather than months

Donald Rumsfeld, 2/7/03:

It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

Former Budget Director Mitch Daniels, 3/28/03:

The United States is committed to helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require sustained aid…