Dishonest and reprehensible

OK, now I'm really mad.

Murray Waas of the National Journal has revealed that on September 21, 2001,

President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda.

So, tell me again now - who's being "dishonest and reprehensible" in their memories of the run-up to Iraq?

Mr. Waas continues (emphasis added):

One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.

If I'm reading this correctly, this is an indication that Hussein could actually have been useful in the fight against terrorism. And the President, Vice President, and senior Administration officials knew these little tidbits of information a year and a half before invading Iraq for our "protection".

Despite constant claims to the contrary, it is more than obvious that those in power manipulated, misled, and lied this nation into an unnecessary and criminally counter-productive war that has crippled our economy, has tarnished our global reputation, and has led to the death and maiming of tens of thousands. The evidence couldn't be clearer that this White House cannot be trusted, and our righteous outrage at this indisputable fact must now be transformed into swift and decisive action.

The Bush Administration has to be held accountable for its egregious acts of duplicity and deception. It's time for an immediate change of personnel in the White House. Three more years is simply too damn long to wait.