I remember other wars where lies were the foundation of our policy that led to war. Vietnam comes to mind, as does the Spanish American War near the beginning of the last century. We have fought a lot of wars for a relatively new country only two and a quarter centuries young. The Indian wars of the late !800's were also based on lies. Wars often are sold as solutions to one or another of the problems that plague human society. That has certainly been true throughout human history and it is still true today. Often enough to be notable they have been fought for different reasons than the ones used to justify them. This may or may not be true of the Iraqi conflict that we are still struggling to come to grips with here in the USA.

The Scheers and Chandri are journalists by trade and this book is written as an examination of the runup to the war and the aftermath up to October of 2003. As a piece of current history it examines the five main elements of the war and our engagement in Iraq concisely and carefully. Their quotes are pointed at clarifying how wrong the Bush Administration has proved to be about everything from the WMD to the aftermath of our adventure in planting democracy in Iraq. The point of calling those erroneous assumptions lies is to point out not only the error of this Administration's positions about this war but also the duplicity that appears to lie behind those mistakes. Of course in a Democracy if you are going to fight a war it is important to get the public behind you. How you do that is subject to analysis and dispute after the fact if this is the democracy in question. In this case they make the point that Bush and his cabinet were wrong about nearly everything important that they used to justify this war.

The book is a quick read and I found it interesting and well worth the cost in time and money. I might wish that they had a little more reach in their premise rather than confining their examination to the probability that lies were told during the sales pitch for this war. The real threat to our security posed by this war is the fact that the Bush cabinet seems to believe their own stories even after they have proven to be false. Perhaps this means that they lied and are trying to cover that fact up, it often seems as if that is true. Sometimes however it seems like a group of people who should have known better sold themselves on untruths so completely that they cling to them faithfully even after they are definitely shown to be untrue. That state of mind is one so egregiously dangerous in leaders that it deserves a full examination by everyone.

Iraq had a definite provable link to Al Queda before the war; that was lie # 1.There were biological or chemical WMD in Iraq before the war is lie #2. That was clearly not true and a lot of people knew that it was not true before the war. Iraq's nuclear weapons program constituted a real danger to the USA was lie #3. Occupying Iraq would be a cakewalk because the Iraqi people would welcome us with open arms is lie number 4. Iraq would easily become a democratic example for the region is lie number 5. That still seems unlikely and is probably untrue but may not have been a lie in any case. The authors of this book make a good case for the Bush administration having lied about the first three items. The other two could easily have been serious miscalculations of a higher order than simple lies would make them. The most serious case against reelecting this group of leaders is to be made by allowing them the truth of their convictions while proving just how wrong they were in every case. I suggest that you read this book with that idea in mind if you do not think Bush lied at all.

The inescapable fact about this war is either we were lied to by our government about the reasons for this war. Or we have a President who cannot tell fantasy from the truth when he comes face to face with information. The facts are in now regarding the reasons given by Bush for pursuing war against the advice and consent of our allies. Our Administration was wrong in nearly every case. Our President and Vice President persist in promoting their arguments for going to war in spite of all the evidence that points out that they were wrong. This is a far more serious problem than if they simply had lied and fooled us into believing their lies. Both are reasons to fire them when the election rolls around. I simply do not know their capacity for lying but I can tell you they apparently have a great a capacity for fooling them selves. I do not want them in charge of this nation's destiny if that is true as it clearly appears to be now.

I have some conservative friends, yes that is true, who are now in the ABB camp. That is the, "Anybody But Bush" camp for those of you who haven't heard of ABB yet. If you are a true conservative I would like you to read the book by the Scheers and Chandry and watch a documentary about the run up to the Iraqi conflict entitled "Uncovered". It can be obtained by going to a web site titled www.truthuncovered.com. If you are still willing to vote for Bush after those two experiences then you obviously think that his economic and social programs make it worth doing so. If so, may God bless and keep us all safe for another four years while you learn more about electing people who believe things that are clearly not true.