The WaPo mixes messages:

Bremer Criticizes Troop Levels
Ex-Overseer of Iraq Says U.S. Effort Was Hampered Early On

By Robin Wright and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 5, 2004; Page A01

Message 1:

The former U.S. official who governed Iraq after the invasion said yesterday that the United States made two major mistakes: not deploying enough troops in Iraq and then not containing the violence and looting immediately after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, said he still supports the decision to intervene in Iraq but said a lack of adequate forces hampered the occupation and efforts to end the looting early on.

They have quotes to support that, but I'm no going to replay the whole article here.

Message 2:

[Bremer:] "I believe that we currently have sufficient troop levels in Iraq," he said in an e-mailed statement. He said all references in recent speeches to troop levels related to the situation when he arrived in Baghdad in May 2003 -- "and when I believed we needed either more coalition troops or Iraqi security forces to address the looting."

He said that, to address the problem, the occupation government developed a plan that is still in place under the new interim Iraqi government.

Bremer also said he believes winning the war in Iraq is an "integral part of fighting this war on terror." He added that he "strongly supports" President Bush's reelection.

I'm not accusing the Post of mischaracterizing Bremer's position, I'm just saying that they always seem careful to balance positive Pro-Bush messages with negative ones. It's certainly news that Bremer said these things, so maybe patience is in order to see whether the Bush Administration and Campaign return adequate answers. Are you holding your breath until WaPo publishes them?

This article was classified as Military news (washingtonpost.com > Nation > National Security > Military).

Here's a follow-up article [classified as 2004 Election news(washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election)] with no positives for Bush to balance the negatives from Kerry:

Kerry Urges Bush to Admit Mistakes
President Should Give Americans a Full Accounting of Situation in Iraq, Democrat Says

By Dan Balz and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 6, 2004; Page A12

I do compare this to Vietnam, and it ain't even close. Here's what I mean, though the article is about the draft.

Update: It sucks to get to the news late. Can you tell I watched The Twins Beat The Yankees 2-0! (I would've given Santana another 1/3 of an inning) instead of the VP debate? Well here's a wind-up of it by Wendy McElroy. She says Edwards won and Cheney looked like an evil troll.