Rummy's testifying after all

Yesterday, we noted that Rumsfeld said he would be a no-show on the Hill today. But, the tough guy got bullied in to testifying -- he's before the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Think Progress takes a look a what's happened since the last time the Secretary of Defense deigned to make an appearance on the Hill:

It will be the first time Rumsfeld has testified publicly about the war before the committee since February 2006. Here’s what’s happened in Iraq since then:

– Approximately 300 U.S. troops have died in Iraq

– Approximately 2,530 U.S. troops have been wounded

– Well over 10,000 Iraq civilians have been killed

– Insurgents have conducted an average of 620 attacks per week

– In March there were 7.8 hours of electricity per day in Baghdad (down from 16-24 hours before the war), last month there were 7.6 hours.

– In March there were 133,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Today there are 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and plans to raise that number to 135,000.

That’s Rumsfeld’s record. Now he has to explain why it shows that we should “stay the course.”

UPDATE: Hillary smacked him around...but Rummy is delusional. She challenged him for consistently misleading Congress, which he denied, "I have never painted a rosy picture...you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic." Huh???? He's never told the truth about Iraq...and the whole Bush administration has been overly optimistic for the past five years.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Think Progress proves Rummy wrong -- and it wasn't hard. He is delusional:

Here’s just a few of the “overly optimistic” comments made by Rumsfeld (and no, we did not have a “dickens of a time” finding them):

Dec. 18, 2002: KING: What’s the current situation in Afghanistan? RUMSFELD: It is encouraging. They have elected a government through the Loya Jirga process. The Taliban are gone. The al Qaeda are gone.

Feb. 7, 2003: “It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”

Feb. 20 2003: “‘Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?’ Jim Lehrer asked the defense secretary on PBS’ The News Hour. ‘There is no question but that they would be welcomed,’ Rumsfeld replied, referring to American forces.”

Mar. 30, 2003: “It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.”