Bush cuts and runs from his “stay the course” policy:

Before the war, confidence and hubris colored the Bush Administration’s treatment of any attempt to discuss the pros and cons of invading Iraq and toppling the dictator:

• they mocked the people who warned that an Iraq war would be bloody, costly, and unnecessary.
• they pushed aside and ignored the pre-war planning
• they claimed an Iraq war would be a “cakewalk”
• They falsely claimed that a war in Iraq would pay for itself

As a result of these lies, thousands of American soldiers are dead, as are somewhere between 30,000 and 650,000 Iraqi civilians.

The Bush administration has admitted that no weapons of mass destruction were found, and that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9-11, yet through deliberate misinformation the GOP has convinced more than half the American public that there were WMD in Iraq.

And finally, FINALLY, the press is starting to demand some accountability. Take a look at this clip from a recent Associated Press story (10/15/2006):

President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq….

Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader’s weapons of mass destruction or from selling them to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

But 3 1/2 years later, with no weapons found, still no end in sight and the war a liability for nearly all Republicans on the ballot Nov. 7, the justification has become far broader and now includes the expansive “struggle between good and evil.”

Hopefully we will hold them accountable on November 7th.