"Prior to the launch of Desert Storm, it was widely agreed that an invasion of Kuwait wasn't sufficient provocation for the United States to go to war. Indeed, Bush's envoy, April Glaspie, had green-lighted the Iraqis, telling them that the United States had "no opinion" on the dispute with Kuwait.

"What would have justified war -- according to Norman Schwarzkopf in his book, It Doesn't Take a Hero -- was an invasion of Saudi Arabia. So the administration in September 1990 conjured up "classified" satellite photos -- the very same sort of "evidence" touted by Powell last week -- showing 265,000 Iraqi soldiers massed on the Saudi border.

"At the St. Petersburg Times, one of the nation's best newspapers (its excellence secured because it is owned by a foundation, not a corporation), reporter Jean Heller embraced that most prized of journalistic qualities, skepticism. She spent about $3,000 to purchase her own satellite photographs. Guess what they showed? No Iraqi military buildup on the Saudi border. Zip, none at all."

There's more, including the story of Guernica Draped in the full article here.

They wouldn't lie to us, to the whole world, just to make their case, would they?

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