I wrote in my most recent posting, "The facts are the following: either Bush/Cheney knew about the NIE intel and decided to lie and fan the flames of fear anyway as only they know how, or they didn't know about the intel and then it (further) makes the case that these ignorant morons do not deserve to be the leaders of our country."

Well it looks like it was the former. Bush/Cheney knew about this intel but instead chose to -- yes, you guessed it -- lie. A real shocker. At this point, we should assume everything they say is a lie until proven otherwise. Their credibility is nonexistent and they have only themselves to blame.

BTW, did you have the chance to see or hear Bush's press conference on December 3rd, when he "answered" questions about the NIE report? Here's the transcript, but it's even better if you can find a link to at least hear it. Bush has descended beyond just laughable and embarrassing to quite sad and possibly insane, literally.

In response to this report, Bush's ploy is to shift the language away from Iran actually having a nuclear program to the mere fact that they have the knowledge to potentially build a nuclear bomb ("Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."). So apparently the threat of Iran is no longer that they actually were physically building the infrastructure to create a bomb -- nah, skip that now that the NIE disproved it. Now the threat comes in the form of Iran simply knowing how to do it.

Come again? I'm sure Iran is not the only country on the face of the planet that has the knowledge to build a nuclear bomb but not the materials or equipment, and yet does that make those countries likewise fair game to be bombed by the U.S.? Prior to this recent shift in wording, wasn't Bush and Cheney's focus directed at eliminating all physical remnants of the nuclear program? I believe so, and yet even if Bush/Cheney were to strike Iran and successfully eliminate all evidence of a program, it would not eliminate what Bush is now claiming to be the real danger: the knowledge.

So which is it Mr. President? Because if as you say the real danger is the knowledge, then that means destroying the infrastructure is not the true goal since the know-how will allow them to rebuild it. But see, you never mentioned the knowledge angle until this NIE report made things very difficult for you. And what you're now suggesting with your new focus on just the knowledge is we'd have to destroy not just buildings and equipment but also people and documents. We have to remove from existence in Iran any person (or item) who might possess the knowledge to build a nuclear bomb, else there is the chance the program can come back to life.

Hopefully you can see the Dr. Strangelove insanity in the above line of thinking. It's so nuts it's scary. They lie, the truth (with any luck) eventually comes out, they dance and scurry, a new line of attack is quickly trotted out, of course it's filled with illogic and nonsensical items but so be it. Amazingly this is how the U.S. has been run for the last 7+ years. Granted Bush/Cheney have indeed inflicted serious damage that is in desperate need of repair, but it's a testament to our country that it's actually not worse off than its current state given the reckless machinations and aims of these madmen.