Adapting in Iraq

The last time I checked, the latest Bush administration slogan for its Iraq adventure is "Adapting to Win". This replaced "Stay the Course", which had fallen out of favor with the White House presumably since it might remind people just what "course" events are taking in Iraq. So, is Adapting to Win any better? Well...

Agence France-Presse reports on a unique way that the Bush administration is adapting to the conditions its invasion has created in Iraq:

The White House revealed what may be a US diplomatic first: the US embassy in Baghdad houses a formal "Office of Hostage Affairs" to handle abductions of American citizens and other nationals.

"The United States, through the Office of Hostage Affairs in Embassy Baghdad, is addressing the scourge of kidnapping in Iraq, a key source of terrorist financing," the White House said in an official document.

"Through interagency and international efforts, hostages have been freed and/or rescued," it said in the document, which was released in support of a speech by US President George W. Bush.

The US embassy in Baghdad makes no mention of such an office on its Internet site, which includes listings for cultural affairs, consular affairs, political-military affairs, agricultural affairs, and public affairs.

And a search of the US State Department Internet site does not turn up any mention of such an office anywhere else.

Odd that the Bush White House, now, at least in public relations terms, officially committed to adapting isn't touting such a remarkable innovation. Of course, maybe our leaders are concerned that the public might suspect that this kind of adaptation doesn't sound like winning.