Time for the rhetorical question of the day:

How stupid do they think we are?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military officer in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, will be replaced as part of a command restructuring that has been in the works for several months, administration officials said Tuesday. The Pentagon also suspended Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski from her command.

I'm sure it's all totally coincidental that the commanding general of the Middle Eastern Command would be replaced, unannounced, right when all the crapola is hitting the fan and the President's approval rating is in the toilet.

Newsflash: Command restructures are rare and well-announced. The higher you go, the rarer they are. And they're always held with a lot of notification because there are issues that have to be addressed down the command chain. When a general is relieved from command to go to a different post, there's always prior notice as to where he or she will be posted to:

"Brigadier General Sam Jones, commander of Fort Shilliwack for the last five years, will take over command of the 13th Mechanized Infantry Division, stationed in Öddlesbiddlebaddle, Germany. General Jones' change of command ceremony will occur on {a date that's three to six months in the future} and he will assume his command of the 13th on {above date plus two or three weeks}. We wish him well at his new posting."

See how that works? I could find NO information about General Sanchez' new posting, nor an announcement of his leaving. Until today, that is. There was some speculation in the past several weeks, since the news stories broke, but nothing about a command restructure.

Of course they'll say that the announcement wasn't made due to security precautions but isn't that getting to be a bit old to use for an excuse? At least they actually did say they were suspending General Karpinski from her command. Ultimately, it boils down to this: General Karpinski's career is over. She has a big giant neon black check mark next to her name which will ensure that she's passed over for promotion and future "cushy" commands. General Sanchez, being a Lt. General (three stars, vs. General Karpinski's one) will be allowed to step down to some Pentagon duty where he'll be on all sorts of exciting panels and committees for the rest of his career until his imminent retirement.