Secretary of Defense Smelt It

And Thinks The President Dealt It: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he was discouraged by the departure of the major Sunni Arab bloc from Iraq’s coalition government, and noted that the Bush administration may have misjudged the difficulty of achieving reconciliation among Iraq’s sectarian factions."

Ya think ??

"In one of his bluntest assessments of the progress of the administration’s Iraq strategy, Mr. Gates said: 'I think the developments on political side are somewhat discouraging at the national level. And clearly the withdrawal of the Sunnis from the government is discouraging. My hope is that it can all be patched back together.' "

Yes, that is a blunt assessment. Bush probably toked up a blunt when Gates told him.