The new "I was just following orders" is "I had bad intelligence."

On TV: Saw Rumsfeld talking to a hall of people today. Here and there, several people jumped up and screamed at him that he was a war criminal, a liar, a mass murderer. Let’s take a moment to thank these brave souls.

Rumsfeld claims he did not lie when going to attack Iraq. Let’s pretend that’s an accurate statement, though my gut tells me it is not. The truth is, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, they all hide behind this: “I had bad intelligence.”

Is that a sufficient excuse? (And isn't it eerily like saying "I'm stupid."?)  We’re not taking issue with what you think, but how you act. You acted on bad intelligence, as much as you could have said “Let’s verify that,” or “Let’s be sure.”

The Nazi war criminal mantra was “I was just following orders.”
The Iraq war criminal mantra is “I had bad intelligence.”

The issue isn’t just that Rumsfeld has his head up his ass. The issue is that people end up dying as a result.