The old f:)cker just won't die! And that makes me happy.

American cultural treasure and curmudgeon Kurt Vonnegut shot off his mouth to the New York Daily News about the whole Iraq "deal."

As for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, they're the ones "who allowed this torture to go on, kept it secret since January. These are war crimes," Vonnegut said. "I dealt with prisoners when I was a soldier. We sure didn't torture them - we were well aware of the Geneva Convention. I myself became a prisoner" of the Germans as an Army corporal in Dresden during World War II.

"It's my country, not theirs," he continued lashing the Bushies. "And they've trashed the reputation of Americans. ... It's possible to destroy a great civilization. Bush and those people have no love for it at all."

Vonnegut refers to the Bush administration as "adroit criminals," which has a nice ring to it. As in "You've been hit by... an adroit... crim-in-al!"

This is all well and good (and fun to read) but the best part is that Vonnegut lets slip that he's taken an advance for a new novel! (Hasn't he claimed to retire at least two or three times already? Not that I'm complaining. I love that old crank!) Maybe he can call it Slaughterhouse 911? Naaaah.

"But now is not the time for a novel, is what Samuel Goldwyn would have said. If you have a message, send a telegram. And it's time to send telegrams right now."

This post originally appeared at soundacious.com