Bush excluded all analysis (including from his own highly regarded experts) that didn’t comport with his thesis about Iraq. He adopted (posthaste and post hoc) as his preferred sources of information corrupt parties like Egypt, Jordan, ex-KGB man Vladimir Putin, and Ahmad Chalabi. He ignored objective reality, invading an indisputably hobbled country, launching the invasion when “an effective inspections regime was in place,” after having “effectively caged Saddam.”
Yet labeling Bush a liar is apparently “slander and defamation,” to repeat Bill O’Reilly.
Fine. For the sake of semantics, how does “criminally negligent” grab you? Proving intent ought not to be a hurdle since Bush still holds that his destruction of lives (American and Iraqi) and property (American and Iraqi) was worth it. But if mens rea is a sticking point, I’ll settle for negligence, with an emphasis on breach of duty.
A Liar by Any Other Name
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