Whether or not the Bush administration decides to release the rest of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on global terror, the cat is out of the bag. 
 

Now then, can anybody tell me why we invaded Iraq in the first place, or why we have no immediate plans to withdraw our troops?
 

First, the President’s reason was the imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction, even though Hans Blick and others counseled him otherwise.  While he hasn’t yet apologized to Mr. Blick, President Bush now admits there are and were no such weapons.
 

Then the President’s reason was that Saddam Hussein’s tyranny destabilized the region and the world, and that it was both responsible and prudent for us to establish a stable democracy for the Iraqi people.  While the Iraqi elections made for good television, it has become painfully clear that democracy cannot be exported like Coca Cola, particularly by an administration with virtually no post-invasion strategy.  While President Bush has not yet admitted it, all we have really established are the foundations of an Iraqi civil war.
 

Most recently, the President has defined Iraq as the front line of his so-called War on Terror, claiming that our soldiers’ great sacrifices there are making the rest of us safer and more secure here.   Unfortunately, the consensus of our 16 intelligence agencies is that the truth is just the opposite.  While President Bush has not yet acknowledged it, all those shattered lives, both American and Iraqi, have only made this world a more hateful and dangerous place.
 

I believe it is time for President Bush and his key advisors to repent of this invasion, that is, to confess that they made a bad decision, to humbly ask for forgiveness, and to immediately reverse course.  Until they do, I think the rest of us should do whatever we can to motivate them in that direction.

Whether or not the Bush administration decides to release the rest of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on global terror, the cat is out of the bag. 
 

Now then, can anybody tell me why we invaded Iraq in the first place, or why we have no immediate plans to withdraw our troops?
 

First, the President’s reason was the imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction, even though Hans Blick and others counseled him otherwise.  While he hasn’t yet apologized to Mr. Blick, President Bush now admits there are and were no such weapons.
 

Then the President’s reason was that Saddam Hussein’s tyranny destabilized the region and the world, and that it was both responsible and prudent for us to establish a stable democracy for the Iraqi people.  While the Iraqi elections made for good television, it has become painfully clear that democracy cannot be exported like Coca Cola, particularly by an administration with virtually no post-invasion strategy.  While President Bush has not yet admitted it, all we have really established are the foundations of an Iraqi civil war.
 

Most recently, the President has defined Iraq as the front line of his so-called War on Terror, claiming that our soldiers’ great sacrifices there are making the rest of us safer and more secure here.   Unfortunately, the consensus of our 16 intelligence agencies is that the truth is just the opposite.  While President Bush has not yet acknowledged it, all those shattered lives, both American and Iraqi, have only made this world a more hateful and dangerous place.
 

I believe it is time for President Bush and his key advisors to repent of this invasion, that is, to confess that they made a bad decision, to humbly ask for forgiveness, and to immediately reverse course.  Until they do, I think the rest of us should do whatever we can to motivate them in that direction.