See if you can spot the problem with these statements by the President:

“Our success in Iraq must not be measured by the enemy’s ability to get a car bombing in the evening news,” he said. “No matter how good the security, terrorists will always be able to explode a bomb on a crowded street.”

He suggested Israel, the frequent target of terrorist attacks and a country in a decades-long, intractable and often violent dispute with Palestinians, as a standard to strive for.

“In places like Israel, terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks,” Bush said. “The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it’s not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that’s a good indicator of success that we’re looking for in Iraq.”

It was likely to be controversial — and possibly even explosive — for Bush to set out Israel as a model for a Muslim Middle Eastern nation.

Uh, ya think? WTF is wrong with this guy? I know the public caricature of Bush is that he’s a dumb frat boy, but these statements reflect an inexplicable ignorance of the diplomatic and cultural sensitivities of the region. How can you be President, in a time where Islamist terrorists are the primary national security threat, and not get that this is a bad thing to say???

Just in case there’s any doubt about what he said, here’s the direct quote from the White House web site:

Our success in Iraq must not be measured by the enemy’s ability to get a car bombing into the evening news. No matter how good the security, terrorists will always be able to explode a bomb on a crowded street. In places like Israel, terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in similar attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy that is not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that’s a good indicator of success that we’re looking for in Iraq: the rise of a government that can protect its people, deliver basic services for all its citizens, and function as a democracy even amid violence.

Does abject stupidity and incompetence count as high crimes and misdemeanors? Our country cannot handle 18 more months of this presidency.

(via TPM)