The danger of having "intellectually incurious" people in charge of foreign policy...

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When asked by a reporter how long he thought the American people would be willing to wait for Bush to force the Iraqi government to reach benchmark goals, Bush veered bizarrely into a claim that Saddam was responsible for the deaths of the "Mandelas".

Part of the reason why there is not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein's brutal rule. I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, where's Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas. He was a brutal tyrant that divided people up and split families, and people are recovering from this. So there's a psychological recovery that is taking place. And it's hard work for them. And I understand it's hard work for them. Having said that, I'm not going the give them a pass when it comes to the central government's reconciliation efforts.

Um, WTF??? Not only is Nelson Mandela very much alive, but he's also been very vocally critical of the Bush Adminstration:

"What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust."[..]

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care."

Maybe it was a bit of strange projection on the part of Bush to want another critic gone...something others in this administration have some experience with as well.

UPDATE: Obviously not everyone understands mangled metaphors: After Bush remark, Mandela Foundation issues statement that former President is still alive.