Liar

The Downing Street Memo makes it clear that the Administration intended to go to war at least by July, 2002. Later revelations in the Times of London push the time line even further back by pointing to the intentional increase of US and British bombing of Iraq in the hopes of provoking Saddam into a response that would have given the allies an excuse for going in to take him out.

Yet President Bush continued to prattle on about wanting a peaceful resolution. A handy list of quotes from Dear Leader (with the dates of their utterance) can be found at Thinkprogress. Here are just a few of the cites:

Bush: “Of course, I haven’t made up my mind we’re going to war with Iraq.” [10/1/02]

Bush:“Hopefully, we can do this peacefully – don’t get me wrong. And if the world were to collectively come together to do so, and to put pressure on Saddam Hussein and convince him to disarm, there’s a chance he may decide to do that. And war is not my first choice, don’t – it’s my last choice.” [11/7/02]

Bush: “This is our attempt to work with the world community to create peace. And the best way for peace is for Mr. Saddam Hussein to disarm. It’s up to him to make his decision.” [12/4/02]

I was beginning to think that no one but progressive bloggers had been able to connect the dots, but I was disabused of that misconception yesterday. I saw a bumpersticker that read, "Bush is a LIAR." It was positioned right next to a union sticker on a pick-up truck. The bed of the truck contained a lot of tools and a bright yellow hard hat, and the truck was being driven by a man with as much gray hair as I have.

I think this is going to be an interesting summer.

[Thanks to Atrios for the tip.]