Prevaricator in Chief Redux

T-shirt available here: http://www.radicalrags.com/t-shirts/political-t-shirts/anti-bush-t-shirts/

~ Wherein we all delight in watching Bush's head explode ~

My, my, my. Your Demon just has to share the day's mirth by pointing out that, for a change, someone in the mainstream media is critically addressing the Bush-Cheney rationale for war on a middle eastern country ~ this time Iran ~ which seems to be their idea of a grand farewell gesture in an administration distinguished only in its disastrous effect on foreign policy, & which may well take generations from which to recover. (Not to mention the salutary results we've obtained with Russia & China of late.)

Today's most entertainining news are two pieces in the WaPo, one an analysis of Bush's not-very-convincing position when it came to light that he may have known a National Intelligence Estimate was on the way that didn't support his belligerent campaign of war-mongering with respect to Iran.

"President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program.

"The new intelligence report released yesterday not only undercut the administration's alarming rhetoric over Iran's nuclear ambitions but could also throttle Bush's effort to ratchet up international sanctions and take off the table the possibility of preemptive military action before the end of his presidency.
[...]
"'It's a little head-spinning,' said Daniel Benjamin, an official on President Bill Clinton's National Security Council. 'Everybody's going to be trying to scratch their heads and figure out what comes next.'

"Critics seized on the new National Intelligence Estimate to lambaste what Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards called 'George Bush and Dick Cheney's rush to war with Iran.' Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), echoing other Democrats, called for 'a diplomatic surge' to resolve the dispute with Tehran. Jon Wolfsthal, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, termed the revelation 'a blockbuster development' that 'requires a wholesale reevaluation of U.S. policy.'

"But the White House said the report vindicated its concerns because it concluded that Iran did have a nuclear weapons program until halting it in 2003 and it showed that U.S.-led diplomatic pressure had succeeded in forcing Tehran's hand. 'On balance, the estimate is good news,' said national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. 'On the one hand, it confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. On the other hand, it tells us that we have made some progress in trying to ensure that that does not happen.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120302210.html

Elsewhere in the WaPo, Dan Froomkin observes,

"By concluding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago, the national intelligence estimate released yesterday undermined a key element of President Bush's foreign policy. It raised questions about whether the president and vice president knowingly misled the public about the danger posed by Iran. And it added to Bush's profound credibility problems with the American people and the international community.

"But to hear Bush talk about it at the White House press conference this morning, the new NIE vindicated his beliefs and makes his warnings about Iran more potent.

"It was neck-snapping spin even by Bush standards. He intentionally misread the report's central point, failed to acknowledge a huge change in his argument for why Iran is dangerous and exhibited pure bullheaded stubbornness.

"When Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Silva noted that Bush appeared dispirited and asked if he was troubled about what this would do to his credibility, Bush replied: 'No, I'm feeling pretty spirited, pretty good about life, and have made the decision to come before you so I can explain the NIE. And I have said Iran is dangerous, and the NIE doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world. Quite the contrary. I'm using this NIE as an opportunity to continue to rally our colleagues and allies. . . .

"And so, you know, kind of Psychology 101 ain't working. It's just not working, you know? I am -- I understand the issues. I clearly see the problems and I'm going to use the NIE to continue to rally the international community for the sake of peace.'"

(Translation: "My mind was made up for me long ago. Don't try to confuse me with the facts & inconvenient questions, you pesky gnat.")

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/12/04/BL2007120401026.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

After all, kittens, why have we taken the enormous time, trouble, blood & deficit expenditures to invade Iraq if not to establish a toe-hold in the MidEast & a strategic postion from which to bomb nutso Islamofascists to smithereens if they dare intefere with our agendas there?

If you're not depressed enough regarding missed opportunities to avert the World War III the crazed warmongering neocons continue to salivate over, read this, about Condi Rice's mysterious refusal (perhaps she's being undermined by said warmongers in Cheney's office?) to engage in diplomacy at a key moment last year by Fred Kaplan on Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2178713/fr/rss/