Bald Faced Lies

What is it about the bald face lie to get the blood boiling? FRONTLINE showed a clip of Paul Wolfowitz refuting Eric Shinseki's assertion that it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to stabilize post-invasion Iraq. He said something about how he couldn't imagine how the number could possibly be much different than the number of folks needed to occupy and stablize would be much different than the number required to destroy the Iraqi army.

This is the same cat who came up with the Defense Policy Guidance. I've never met the guy, but I doubt that there is much beyond this guy's imagnination. It's galling to see a the Deputy SecDef lie, and lie so poorly.

I understand why he lied. Had he said:

The magnitude of the force presence suggested by General Shinseki, while most likely accurate, is not politically tenable. But who cares if the rabble sacks Bagdad after the invasion? Geosociopolitico realities combined with free market forces will correct the situation, and freedom will be on the march.

I wouldn't have lost my dinner.