Shoot the messenger

That's funny, when Jack Murtha said basically the same thing, it was "legitimate." Well, after it was "reprehensible."

The White House criticized Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Tuesday for saying it is wrong to think the United States will win in Iraq, saying he was sending the wrong message to U.S. troops.

Dean told San Antonio, Texas, radio station WOAI that "the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

He predicted the Democratic Party would come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all U.S. forces within two years.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President George W. Bush is "focused on our plan for victory," and will give the second in a series of speeches on Wednesday about the way forward in Iraq looking ahead to December 15 elections.

"I think that on the eve of historic elections, it sends the wrong message to our troops. America wants our troops to win and we have a plan to help them succeed and we know that they will," McClellan said.

He suggested Dean had some explaining to do.

"I think those are remarks for him to clarify," McClellan said, calling it "absolutely the wrong message to send to our troops when we are on the verge of historic accomplishments."

Dean called Iraq "the same situation we had in Vietnam."

"Everybody then kept saying, 'Just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening," he said.

Maybe Dean's criticism of war and the administration's policies will be legitimate tomorrow. You know, one day you're sending troops the wrong message (as if all they are doing over there is reading the news wires), the next day you're "taking a clear stand in an entirely legitimate discussion." Like Murtha.

Meanwhile, in reality,

Two suicide bombers struck Baghdad's police academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people and wounding 73 more, U.S. officials said, while Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video claiming to have kidnapped a U.S. security consultant.

The suicide attackers were wearing explosives-laden vests and a U.S. contractor was among those wounded, a U.S. military statement said. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. The military initially said the bombers were women but later retracted the statement.

"We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion," said police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali. "Seconds later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running. I saw some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I kept on running."

Police Capt. Jalil Abdul-qadir said the death toll was 43, inlcuding seven policewomen. At least 73 people were wounded, incuding six policewomen. He said all of them were officers or students at the academy.

Shame on you, Howard Dean.