We all know that there won't be any "successful" hearings on the misconduct of the Iraq war without some resignations or convictions, but when the Times editorializes that, "Congress has exercised virtually no oversight of the administration’s misconduct of the war", Protein Wisdom has no problem finding, oh, about two dozen separate Congressional hearings on the topic without even trying very hard. And don't forget, just because Republicans chair the various committees and some administration members were to be generous, reluctant participants, that doesn't mean that Democrats haven't had a chance to ask pointed questions, or express their general outrage.

Here's Democrat Senator Byrd demanding answers from Donald Rumsfeld on Abu Ghraib back in May of 2004, to give one of many example.

BYRD: I do not recall hearing a peep out of either of you, Secretary Rumsfeld or General Myers, about this before CBS broke the silence. Why did it take the televised broadcast of graphic photos of prisoner abuse, a broadcast General Myers has acknowledged he tried to suppress, to galvanize the leadership of the Defense Department to express its outrage over the situation? 

Why was a report that described sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses by American soldiers left to languish on a shelf in the Pentagon unread by the top leadership until the media revealed it to the world? 

Why wasn't Congress apprised of the findings of this report from the Defense Department instead of from CBS News? 

Mr. Secretary, it was President Truman who was said to have displayed the famous sign on his desk: The buck stops here. I served with President Truman. He was an honorable man. He did not shirk his responsibility. 

I see a very different pattern in this administration. I see arrogance and a disdain for Congress. I see misplaced bravado and an unwillingness to admit mistakes. I see finger-pointing and excuses. 

Given the catastrophic impact that this scandal has had on the world community, how can the United States ever repair its credibility?

Do we really have to go through all this again?  Is someone expecting a different set of answers?