The Dumbest Quote of the Week

The dumbest quote of the week was not President Bush's "We'll succeed unless we quit," line in Hanoi. Instead, the prize goes to a little noticed gem spoken by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Addressing President Bush and the press at the beginning of their November 13 Oval Office meeting, Olmert said:

"We in the Middle East have followed the American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed and encouraged by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East. We pray and hope that this policy will be fully successful so that this stability which was created for all the moderate countries of the Middle East will continue."

Was he sucking up, or did he mean it? Did Bush blow it off as sycophancy or see it as validation?

Is this the same yardstick of success that Olmert has used to measure his operations in Gaza and Lebanon?

So many questions, so little time.