"Message: I'm confident"

The Bush administration -- you know, the one that never admits mistakes -- is changing tactics. No, not in Iraq, on the hustings.

But he acknowledged that there had been problems with the "tactics" used in Iraq, citing flaws in the initial approach to reconstruction and the training of the Iraqi army and police force.

"Obviously, one classic case that hurts us that I wish was done differently was Abu Ghraib," Mr. Bush said, referring to the abuse of Iraqi detainees by American personnel at a prison built by Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Bush has made similar remarks in the string of speeches he has given on Iraq in recent weeks. But his statements today were somewhat more detailed, both in his opening speech and in response to a questioner who asked whether he ever reflected on what he could have done differently.

Administration officials are well aware of polls showing a steady erosion of public support for the war in Iraq, and have begun to speak more openly about the difficulty of the task ahead, while stressing the need for Americans to maintain their resolve.

"I'm confident people are saying, 'I wonder if these people can ever get their act together and self-govern?' " Mr. Bush said of the Iraqi leadership. "The answer is, I'm confident they can, if we don't lose our nerve."

It would seem that Rumsfeld never got the memo and in a rare moment of candor, called his boss a flaming idgit.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appeared to take issue with that assessment. In a radio interview, Mr. Rumsfeld said that tactics changed in accordance with the enemy's activities. "If someone says, well, that's a tactical mistake, then I guess it's a lack of understanding, at least my understanding, of what warfare is about," Mr. Rumsfeld said, according to an article today in The Washington Post.

Good news, though, the Kurds aren't as interested in civil war as the Sunnis and Shiites. Of course, that's because they have bigger things in mind.