i-sako.com

Paul Krugman is telling the American public what it needs to hear regarding the Bush administration’s failure to turn up WMDs in Iraq, which was sold to us as the reason why an invasion was necessary, right away.

NYT: Standard Operating Procedure

It’s no answer to say that Saddam was a murderous tyrant. I could point out that many of the neoconservatives who fomented this war were nonchalant, or worse, about mass murders by Central American death squads in the 1980’s. But the important point is that this isn’t about Saddam: it’s about us. The public was told that Saddam posed an imminent threat. If that claim was fraudulent, the selling of the war is arguably the worst scandal in American political history—worse than Watergate, worse than Iran-contra. Indeed, the idea that we were deceived into war makes many commentators so uncomfortable that they refuse to admit the possibility.

But here’s the thought that should make those commentators really uncomfortable. Suppose that this administration did con us into war. And suppose that it is not held accountable for its deceptions...our political system has become utterly, and perhaps irrevocably, corrupted.

If you like, you can tell me that this war was not about WMDs, but instead about the liberation of the Iraqi people. So we’re there to teach the Iraqis about democracy, are we? Okay, I’ll listen to your arguments, but I’ll also point out that you might need to remind Mr. Bush of that goal—as he seems to have forgotten about it entirely.

WaPo: U.S. to Appoint Council in Iraq

Officials Decide Not to Allow Large Assembly to Pick Interim Leaders

The U.S. occupation authority has decided to handpick between 25 and 30 Iraqis to serve on an interim political council to advise U.S. officials on day-to-day governance issues rather than convene a large assembly where Iraqi delegates would debate the form and membership of their transitional administration, a senior U.S. official said today.

Iraqis expected that an interim government would be chosen at a national conference next month attended by hundreds of representatives from the country’s religious, ethnic and tribal groups. The assembly was regarded as the first and most significant step by the United States toward sharing power with Iraqis, who have increased their demands for self-governance.

The Bush administration’s decision to back away from such an open selection process, which U.S. officials had supported a few weeks ago, is the latest in a series of policy reversals.

As usual, Billmon has much, much more: The Promise of Democracy.