"STUPIDITY AND INCOMPETENCE".... Military weapons expert John E. Pike hasn't exactly been impressed by the Bush administration's halting, confused response to the charge that US forces used chemical weapons (in the form of white phosphorus rounds) against civilians in Falluja last year. "The story most people around the world have is that the Americans are up to their old tricks - committing atrocities and lying about it," he tells the Times. "And that's completely incorrect."

UPDATE: John Cole has more -- and I have to say that his oft-displayed willingness to call BS on his own side over the last year or so gives his argument a decidedly, uh, unballoon-like heft.

ANOTHER UPDATE: And speaking of stupidity and incompetence, the normally crack O'Toole File staff appears to have forgotten to rewrite this post's URL when its title and subject matter changed. "And I take sole responsibility for this error," O'Toole said, with Kennedyesque aplomb....