Shameless

Bush says new approach needed in Iraq
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

...Bush's meeting with Blair came a day after the Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton issued a stinging report saying the Bush policies in Iraq had failed and a major course correction was needed, including beginning to withdraw combat troops.

...The study group concluded that a stable, democratic Iraq was still possible, but Baker said: "We do not know if it can be turned around."

Bush was more upbeat, but gave no hints about whether he was contemplating a major policy shift. At the same time, Bush said that he didn't think Baker and Hamilton "expect us to accept every recommendation."

If El Presidente had bothered to put forth even a minimum effort and take the time to sound his way through the Cliff's Notes "Executive Summary" section of the ISG report, he'd find that that's exactly what is expected:

It is the unanimous view of the Iraq Study Group that these recommendations offer a new way forward for the United States in Iraq and the region. They are comprehensive and need to be implemented in a coordinated fashion. They should not be separated or carried out in isolation.

Standing before the U.S. and international media and lying is testament to one's utter lack of character and credibility.

That said, choosing a lie that is exposed by even the most cursory examination of the relevant material calls in to question your basic powers of judgment. That sort of decision, on that scale, is a sign that you, A.) don't see the risk--and are abjectly stupid--or, B.) simply don't care, believing yourself beyond all reproach.

At the end of the day--along with the bodies and limbs lying in the sands of Iraq--we're left with one thing: an unprincipled liar, and a poor one, at that, irredeemably crippled by either staggering ignorance or the soaring arrogance of personal infallibility.

A liar whose hands grow bloodier by the day.