A nice summary of the White House’s Iraq reasoning from Maureen Dowd:
The president said an intelligence report (which turned out to be two years old) showed that Osama had been trying to send Qaeda terrorists in Iraq to attack America. So clearly, Osama is capable of multitasking: Order the killers in Iraq to go after American soldiers there and American civilians here. There AND here. Get it, W.?
The president is on a continuous loop of sophistry: We have to push on in Iraq because Al Qaeda is there, even though Al Qaeda is there because we pushed into Iraq. Our troops have to keep dying there because our troops have been dying there. We have to stay so the enemy doesnât know weâre leaving. Osama hasnât been found because heâs hiding.
The terrorists moved into George Bushâs Iraq, not Saddam Husseinâs. W.âs ranting about Al Qaeda there is like planting fleurs du mal and then complaining your garden is toxic.