Kuwait City, Kuwait

I WOKE THIS MORNING to the howling of a nasty sandstorm and flipped on the television. Instead of reports on U.S. troop movements or terrorist alerts or the weather, the number-two story on CNN International was Tom Daschle. The Senate minority leader was shown defending comments he made on Monday when he said that blame for the inevitable American casualties in the coming war lies with President Bush. And this wasn’t just a fit of pique. “I stand by my statement,” Daschle said Tuesday.

Which is unfortunate. “I’m saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we’re forced to war,” Daschle said Monday. “Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn’t create the kind of diplomatic effort so critical for our country.”