'Probably a Mistake'

I meant to write about this a few days ago but other things came up; my woman got sick and my one-eyed cat had kittens and we were out of town over the weekend. Anyway, better late than never, I figure...

When Bugs Bunny pops his head out of the tunnel he just burrowed into a bullring or a cave with an evil genie only to realize he's not at Pismo Beach as planned, the audience becomes witness to something amazing happening next; Bugs actually starts to reflect on how he got there - "I shoulda' made that right turn at Albuquerque..."

That is how I view a mistake. I consider a 'mistake' something accidental rather than deliberately accomplished. There's quite a distinction from unwittingly smashing your thumb with a hammer while building a bird house & smashing your thumb with a hammer in the hope that doing it again and again repeatedly will cure a stubborn wart and create a better world.

For Senator Coburn to declare the War in Iraq "probably a mistake" is astonishing. First, despite his admission he remains committed to this mistake, making this enormous revelation utterly useless. The war will go on despite any meaning behind it or any plan to figure out when it can actually be over.
Secondly, I am disgusted by the terminology as it is applied to something with such hideous consequences. Hundreds of thousands of people are dead because of this 'mistake' - not to mention almost 4,000 American military fatalities.

Is all of this continuous bloody sacrifice & suffering really comparable to a typo on a job application?