corrente

Yesterday, we wrote (back) that the one concrete proposal in Bush's Monday speech—razing Abu Ghraib and building a new state of the art prison—was, besides being ludicrous as a symbol of what America stands for, not budgeted for, would take money from other programs, wouldn't make up for the Abu Ghraib scandal, wasn't wanted by the Iraqis, and that the prison that has been budgeted for is way behind schedule because Bush's lack of planning botched the security situation.

Well! Now we learn—surprise!—that the scheme was cooked up in the West Wing without any input from anyone else:

On Monday night, President Bush made the dramatic announcement that the United States would demolish Abu Ghraib prison and build a modern maximum-security center in Baghdad to replace it. But on Wednesday, Pentagon officials said the president's words had taken them by surprise, and they scrambled without success to come up with details of the plan.

"It's just an idea [Bush] came up with," [a White House] official said.
(via NY Times)

Great.

Looks like Bush isn't really talking to anyone outside of his small circle of advisors (and, of course, the crowds that are handpicked to give him the standing ovations he craves). Not a recipe for success.