Snake Oil Redux

Thanks to Josh Marshall and Juan Cole, who have put together some concise, easily accessible information about it, we can clearly see the lies Bush is circulating for what they are. This bunch can't even competently pull off a con job without the primary elements unravelling in front of our eyes, although I must admit, this little storyline is disintegrating in record time. As before, they can't even get all their generals on board. Now here's just one more reason not to buy their snake oil; the final slide, courtesy TPM Muckracker, shown at the now-famous "anonymous" briefing:

As one commenter at Muckraker noted wryly:

"What rank horseshit! The last slide says that "Iraqi and Iranian detainees" have told them in detail about when, where, and how Iranian arms shipments are crossing the border. Instead of telling a bunch of credulous reporters--and the world--that you know these details, why not use the information and actually CAPTURE such a shipment? THAT might be convincing!"

And given that the slide says this information was received in the last 60 days before the briefing, it would seem there was plenty of time to act on this intelligence...that is, if it were true. Now, thanks to the National Security Archive by way of the NYTimes, we can indulge in our nostalgia for pre-war lies by perusing the CentCom PowerPoint Slides shown to the White House and Rumsfeld in 2002, and recall how well that worked out, too. (NOTE--all you need to know about that is this first entry in the chronology of events at the bottom of the page: "November 21, 2001 - President Bush asks Defense Secretary Rumsfeld about contingencies for war with Iraq, and directs him to initiate planning.")

Marshall, who jumped on board the Let's Invade Iraq! Express back in 2002, is sensibly cautious about all this. Those of us who were never gulled in the first place know it's not just caution that's called for with this nest of vipers. Start putting the pressure on the people whose salaries you pay. And make it hurt.