Senators Slam Rumsfeld At Hearing: “Under Your Leadership, There Have Been Numerous Errors In Judgement”...

The President and Donald Rumsfeld still won’t concede that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war, but increasingly, they’re the only ones.

Two of the Pentagon’s most senior generals conceded to Congress on Thursday that the surge in sectarian violence in Baghdad in recent weeks means Iraq may descend into civil war. "Iraq could move toward civil war" if the violence is not contained,” Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the panel, "We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war."

British officials agree. "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy," William Patey, who departed from the Iraqi capital last week, wrote in a confidential diplomatic telegram to Blair that was obtained by the BBC. "Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq — a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror — must remain in doubt."

Later Hillary smacked Rumsfeld around a little. (See the video.) She challenged him for consistently misleading Congress, which he denied. "I have never painted a rosy picture,” he said. “You'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic."

Say again! Rumsfeld has consistently misled the congress and the country, never telling the full truth about Iraq. In fact, the whole Bush administration has been overly optimistic for the past five years.

In short order and without breaking a sweat Think Progress found just a few of the “overly optimistic” comments made by Rumsfeld:

• Dec. 18, 2002 – KING: What’s the current situation in Afghanistan? RUMSFELD: It is encouraging. They have elected a government through the Loya Jirga process. The Taliban are gone. The al Qaeda are gone.
• Feb. 7, 2003 – RUMSFELD: It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
• Feb. 20 2003 – LEHRER: Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq? RUMSFIELD: There is no question but that they would be welcomed.
• Mar. 30, 2003 – RUMSFELD: It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.

And that's just in 2003! Wait until they start reviewing the tapes from 2004, 2005, 2006...

Oh, and then Rumsfeld blamed the increasing violence on the weather. (And in a parallel universe thousands of resignation letters were drafted by U.S. military generals so they, too, could lend their names to those military leaders already calling for Rumsfeld to step down.)

UPDATE I: During today’s hearing, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) said that Congress may have to pass a new resolution authorizing the continuing use of U.S. military force in Iraq if a civil war breaks out in that country:

"I think we have to examine very carefully what Congress authorized the president to do in the context of a situation if we’re faced with an all-out civil war, and whether we have to come back to the Congress to get further indication of support."

UPDATE II: WASHINGTON Aug 3, 2006 (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called Thursday for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, hours after excoriating him at a public hearing over what she said was a "failed policy" in Iraq.

"I just don't understand why we can't get new leadership that would give us a fighting chance to turn the situation around before it's too late," the New York Democrat told the Associated Press. "I think the president should choose to accept Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation."

Clinton confronted Rumsfeld directly on Iraq and Afghanistan earlier in the day, and said his answers left her convinced he should go.

"The secretary has lost credibility with the Congress and with the people. It's time for him to step down and be replaced by someone who can develop an effective strategy and communicate it effectively to the American people and to the world."