Fool me once, shame on you, etc.
Today's NY Times features an interesting piece by David Sanger about the contortions the Bush administration is going through in trying to decide what evidence about Iraqi arms violations it can declassify for Secretary of State Powell to present to the U.N.. I can understand not wanting to reveal stuff from informants for fear of blowing their cover; but apparently they're reluctant even to reveal satellite photos, because somehow they might reveal details about the satellites' capabilities to our rivals.
So where does that leave us? If you can't use the intelligence you have to sway world opinion it's not much use -- unless the world trusts you. And this is where the Bush team's habit of twisting the truth has got them in deep trouble.
Things would be much simpler if we could take what Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld have to tell us about Iraq at face value. But their record -- whether on the economy or their tax plan or the budget deficit or the environment or virtually anything else that's really important -- is awful. On subjects where we have good intelligence, we know that this is an administration ready to disregard facts and say whatever it thinks will sway listeners to its side. So on a subject where we don't have good intelligence -- like what's going on inside Iraq right now -- I'm afraid I must default to a position of distrust. That's what Bush has earned.
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