I personally believe this is another case of Selection Pressure applied to US intel organs. I think the Bush Admin insisted only on hearing what it wanted, and irresponsible or affraid-for-career Intelligence 'lifers' were happy to oblige them.

However. I view this as another 'big lie' scenario, frankly. I don't really care that our government REALLY REALLY REALLY believed what they were saying, the point is they materially mislead the american public. Many liars get caught up in their fantasies- some to the point where it is more real, more believed than reality... To the point that they can't tell what is their will reflected upon reality and what is reality.

This screw-up is of a TITANIC nature. Look at the facts:

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq was harboring and working in collusion with Al-Qaeda operatives

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq Had Chemical weapon manufacturing capacity

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq Had Chemical weapon stockpiles

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq Had Bio-weapon manufacturing capacity

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq Had Bioweapon stockpiles

we were told that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Iraq Had Nuke weapon research programs

All of these are material claims of a true-or-false nature. All of these are 100% verifiable by intelligence (signal and human). To be told that we had CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE of the affirmative for all of these is, was, and continues to be a LIE.

The "we didn't mean to" argument does not purchase much with me. Thats the thing about being elected to government- its your JOB to be right when you take america to war. Its your JOB to speak what you KNOW to be true, and not claim something true until you have verified it to be true. You don't 'shoot from the hip' when war is on the line.

Look, if I am being negligent and cleaning a loaded weapon at my kitchen table and 'accidentally' shoot my wife dead- no jury and no prosicutor is going to say: "oh, well, he didn't MEAN to" or "Well, see, he BELIEVED it wasn't loaded"...

So in this case, the unjustified and irresponsible Beliefs of a few led our country to do a terrible and un-just thing, with THOUSANDS dead as a result. I don't intend to be 'nice' and I'm certainly not going to participate in painting the elephant red.

Davin L.