Not to shock folks before they've mainlined their morning coffee, but it turns out that declassified documents, the interrogation of Saddam Hussein, and interviews with his senior aides have all confirmed that Iraq had no direct relationship with al-Qaeda in the pre-war period. I know! And it turns out that the pre-war intelligence report alleging operational links between bin-Laden and Hussein, which was written by the "fucking stupidest guy on the face of the planet" -- I'm sorry, I mean Doug Feith -- was a pack of lies. This was actually recognized before the war, when a senior intelligence analyst in the counterterrorism task force rebutted 15 of its 26 conclusions and judged Feith's document "of no intelligence value," but the administration relied on Feith's work anyway. And we relied on the administration's honesty, and now we're...here. Confirmation of their mendacity may be validating, but it's cold comfort indeed.
