I'm slow

Sometimes you just get so mad about something that you can't even bring yourself to write about it. So, here are some thoughts on Bush's outrageous press conference on Monday in which he once again tied Iraq together with 9/11, then proceeded in the very next sentence to claim that he had never suggested a link.

...imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up even more trouble in a part of the world that had so much resentment and so much hatred that people came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

You know, I've heard this theory about everything was just fine until we arrived, and kind of "we're going to stir up the hornet's nest" theory. It just doesn't hold water, as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

The President was not even being subtle here in trying to equate Saddam Hussein's Iraq with the 9/11 attacks, and in response a reporter called him on it (a rare occassion).

Q What did Iraq have to do with that?

THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?

Q The attack on the World Trade Center?

THE PRESIDENT: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody has ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective. I have made that case.

Oops, Mr. Bush got caught so he had to backtrack. Iraq was involved in 9/11 until someone catches Mr. Bush spreading that lie, then Iraq wasn't, but they were still a threat to us and still tied to Al-Qaeda, also a lie. Bush is trying to toe a fine line here where he wants to tie Iraq into the "terrorist threat" while still not being accused of lying to the public about connections between Iraq and 9/11, it can't be done for the obvious reason that Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11.