mway should pray in postwar Iraq

Gen. Franks retired in mid-2003 with perfect timing. Baghdad had fallen, and he left the mess from that "fundamental misunderstand- ing" for someone else to clean up.

the White House and Pentagon was evident both before and after the 2005 Rand report - evident to everybody but the White House and Pentagon, apparently. Rather than censor the report, the administra- tion could have acted on it two years before political and public pressure forced a change in strategy. Now, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged this week with his comments on troop levels, the next president will be responsible for ending what Mr. Bush secretly and recklessly started. Plan on it.

The Army is supposed to publish unclassified reports as soon as it can review them, to be sure that they don't contain sensitive mate- rial. More than 2½ years later, the Army hasn't published the report and has done little to circulate the classified version to Pentagon leaders. Asked why, an Army

## Spare us the outrage

An 11-month police investigation led to an indictment on one felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. That was in July 2006, and part-time Palm Beacher Jeffrey Epstein still has faced no repercussions for al- legedly preying on underage girls.

So maybe Mr. Epstein is satisfied that he's getting his money's worth from his large legal team, which includes Harvard Law School Pro- fessor Alan Dershowitz (remember OJ. Simpson?) and Kenneth Starr (remember Monica Lewinsky?). Jack Goldberger of West Palm Beach, who's also on the team, told Post columnist Jose Lambiet in November: "This case is absolutely ⚫ going to end without a trial within the next two months."

## Lawyers for accused sex
predator sound foolish.

He was wrong, but Mr. Gold- berger remains on Mr. Epstein's payroll, feigning moral outrage at two lawsuits filed this year against the Manhattan money manager The lawsuits allege sexual exploita tion of teenaged girls, one of them as young as 14. Said Mr. Goldberger after the first lawsuit, seeking more

than $50 million, was filed on Jan. 24: "We think this shows what this case is all about: money." Yes, it is - Mr. Epstein's effort to buy his way out of prosecution.

According to the lawyer of a 17- year-old whose parents are suing him, Mr. Epstein masturbated in front of her (she was 14 at the time) and used a vibrator on her at his home in February 2005. Another Epstein attorney, Lilly Ann Sanchez dismissed it: "Jeffrey Epstein did not have sex with this woman."

For those girls who claim that he did, Mr. Epstein's lawyers maintain that he did not know their ages, de- spite a police search of his home and garbage that found phone messages about the girls' school schedules and even a high school transcript. For all of his money, Mr. Epstein's best defense remains "I didn't know that I was a criminal pervert"?

## What tricy

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