The Mahablog: Clear and Present

Michael Smith, the London Times reporter who introducted the world to the Downing Street Memos, writes in today's Los Angeles Times that the press and public are missing the real news in the memos.

The real news, he says, is not that intelligence was "fixed" to justify war. The real news is the way Bush and Blair conspired to create a facade of legality for their little escapade in Iraq.

First,

My main article focused on the separate briefing paper for those taking part, prepared beforehand by Cabinet Office experts.

It said that Blair agreed at Crawford that "the UK would support military action to bring about regime change." Because this was illegal, the officials noted, it was "necessary to create the conditions in which we could legally support military action."

For whatever reason--oil, IMO, is just a small part of the reason--Bush really wanted to invade Iraq. And I'm sure Cheney really wanted to invade Iraq. And spoiled boys are used to getting what they want.