> I think that the truth of the matter is staring us
> right in the face: the Bush Administration believed
> that the Iraqi military possessed large stockpiles of
> banned weapons, along with elaborate, clandestine
> facilities for manufacturing more.
>
> All of the deception, the manipulation of reports, the
> relentless effort to "sex-up" intelligence, was the
> work of people who had convinced themselves that this
> was so and viewed all evidence to the contrary as
> inconvenience to be finessed out of sight or massaged
> into proper form.
>
> This does not mean that they believed Iraq to be a
> threat to the US, let alone the world. I'm certain
> that the thought never crossed their fever-damaged
> minds. But they were certain that the stuff and the
> infrastructure were there.
>
> This really shouldn't be so surprising. If you
> believe that the US can remake the world, and similar
> dangerous fantasies, your level of resistance against
> other, related, ideological infections is obviously
> rather low.
>
> We must abandon the view that Rice, Rumsfeld,
> Wolfowitz and the whole, empire gang are savvy
> strategists who see the world clearly and are making
> their plans with clear, if sinister eyes.
I agree, and would add that few (if any) see the political world clearly. We're all more or less grasping around in the dark. (I think you may've made a similar point later in your post.)
-- Luke