We need to link pre-war intel manipulation to the 1997 NeoCon plan to invade Iraq.
The NeoCons have been planning to invade Iraq and restructure the Middle East at least since 1997, when The Project for a New American Century formed and began a publicity campaign (including Rumseld and Kristol writing a letter to President Clinton) to invade Iraq. Toppling Saddam, even then, was less important than "transforming" the region to suit American (oil) interest. They even issued an almost 100 page report detailing their vision in 1998.
So of course the Bush White House sexed up the intel to sell the war - the invasion was 6 years in the making. What is pathetic is how bad they botched the planning when they had literally several years to get it right. Just think how more pathetically they would have been if their invasion of Iraq had been spur of the moment?
The same Keystone Cops who gave Congress the bad intel, withheld contrary intel, and outright lied are some of the same jokers who founded the PFAC on June 3, 1997:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/...
Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Scooter Libby, Paul Wolfowitz (now WorldBank pres), Bill Kristol (of the Weekly Standard), Gary Bauer (ex-pres of Family Research Council), William Bennett (of "abort-black-babies-to-cut-crime" fame), Elliott Abrams (Bush's Deputy NSA Advisor who was previously found guilty of withholding Iran-Contra info from Congress), Steve Forbes (of Forbes Magazine), Zalmay Khalizad (Texas oil consultant, ambassador to Afghanistan and now Iraq), Francis Fukuyama (serving on Bush's Council on "Ethics" - isn't that rich?), and Dan Quayle.
The stronger the link in the public mind between sexed up pre-war intel and the 1998 Plan To Invade, the more of these bastards go down. I'll bet 99% of the public has no idea that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Scooter, et al published a report advocating an invasion of Iraq in 1998, and that Republican credibility would crater if they public found out.
Bush is the Milli Vanilli of presidents. Let's go after the real powers running this government.