Meanwhile, Beyond the Looking Glass . . .

For those of us still mired in the reality-based community, learning new facts about Iran's nuclear program might lead to a reappraisal of our bellicose policy. (Let's leave aside for a moment the clear fact that W. is lying about when he learned about the NIE.)

But no - W is attempting to pull off a spectacular rhetorical performance, simultaneously: a. taking credit for closing down Iran's weapons program in 2003; and 2. arguing that the very LACK of a program makes Iran more dangerous.

The blogger Bob Cesca (see the link above) has put his finger on the key phrase, repeated endlessly in Bush's characteristically language-challenged style: we can't let Iran have the KNOWLEDGE necessary to make a nuclear weapon.

W. would have us commit ourselves to a War on Science. I suspect (and hope?) that his anti-Iran campaign will go about as well as his "reform Social Security" campaign: the more he talks, the less support he gets.