spinning out of control
From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Calling rampant looting and lawlessness in Iraq an "untidy" period between war and freedom, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday condemned media reports that anarchy ruled in Iraqi cities.

Rumsfeld and the chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters that U.S. troops were struggling to secure Baghdad and intervening when possible to stop looting two days after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule.

"It's untidy. And freedom's untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," stormed Rumsfeld, his hand chopping the air for emphasis in response to reporters' questions at a Pentagon briefing.

"They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here," he added after reporters asked what steps U.S. forces were taking to stop the looting.

Even the Western media have moved from covering toppling statues to looted hospitals. When the history of this human catastrophe gets written it will be interesting to read about Rumsfeld trying to control not looting, but reports of looting. There is a very good reason for the looting. It's called not having enough boots on the ground for ideological reasons.

While Rumsfeld is condemning shots of a vase being stolen that get run again and again he had no trouble with the Great Statue Toppling being run over and over again. Evidently it's doubleplusgood to rerun stories favourable to the march of empire but it's doubleplusungood to rerun stories that question the cakewalk.