"Hogwash:" Proof that Cheney Doesn't Know Dick

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed "the blunders and the failures" in Iraq that Blitzer alluded to with characteristic gravitas: "I simply don't accept the premise of your questions. I just think it's hogwash." While Blitzer contended that the war in Iraq has created a "terrible situation," Cheney suggested that the difficulties in Iraq are simply "ongoing problems" that pale in comparison to rule under Saddam Hussein.

While Cheney's assertion may be true, the dire nature of the situation in Iraq cannot be aptly described as a set of "ongoing problems." The ramifications of daily attacks by insurgency forces have expanded far beyond the cost of lives alone. Not only is the Iraqi government falling apart at the seams (Nouri al-Maliki isn't too keen on staying in his position; neither, apparently, are the legislators), but the general populace is suffering, too. According to a report by ABC, children of Iraqi's who have been injured or killed in insurgent attacks are now leaving their schools so that they can support their families by working. Attendance in Iraqi elementary schools has dropped from 75% in 2005 to a mere 30% in 2006. Instead of pursuing an education, children are working either for legitimate businesses or for insurgents eager to indotrinate a new generation of Jihadists.

With a failing government, Iraqi children being raised as soldiers for the insurgence, and a host of economic shortcomings, perhaps Mr. Cheney should choose his words more carefully when describing the Iraqi state.