I rest my case. The President of the United States has lost his mind. If we assume that Bush Jr. actually believes what he said over the weekend on the subject of Iraq, we are obliged to arrive at that conclusion. (See below.) Either that, or he is now more prepared than ever to say anything--no matter how foolish, baseless or preposterous--because he is counting on the American people to be gullible or stupid enough to believe it. Either way, the situation is embarrassing, both with respect to Bush himself and for what it suggests about his captive audience.

Item. In the context of Iraq, Bush continues with the mantra: "We went to war because we were attacked." In this, Bush is relying upon the ignorance of his listeners. Yes, Mr. President, we were attacked, but the regime of Saddam Hussein had nothing whatever to do with the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11th, 2001. That was the conclusion of the U.S. government's own 9/11 commission. At the time, Iraq did not even have diplomatic relations with the Islamic fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan which was harboring Bin Laden, who was responsible for the attacks.

Saddam was a secular Arab nationalist, not an Islamic fanatic. Saddam was anti-Bin Laden, and Bin Laden was anti-Saddam. In brief, there must be some other  reason or reasons why Bush ordered the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We know it certainly wasn't WMD. That whopper has been discarded, even by Bush. That Bush is still using 9/11 as a pretext to justify his war in Iraq is ridiculous. It speaks volumes about the gullibility of the American people and/or the unbalanced condition of Bush's mind. Will a foolhardy reporter please stand up and ask the President at his next press conference: "So what was the real reason why America invaded Iraq?" A ghastly blunder deserves an explanation.

Item. "...disagree with my decision...but all of us can agree that the world's terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror." So states the President. The point being what? Where there had been zero terrorism before, Bush's invasion brought terrorism into being, and this retrospectively and amazingly is dished up now as a justification for removing Saddam Hussein from power.

The retired Iraqi Major General Saad Obeidi quoted in that Los Angeles Times article of June 2nd ["Suicide Attacks Soaring"] must have been correct after all: "One aim of the U.S. military, once it invaded Iraq, was to lure all insurgents and terrorists from all over the world to confront them here." Is the average Iraqi suppose to thank Bush and Washington for deliberately making Iraq a battleground and a wasteland?

After a decade of comprehensive economic sanctions under Bush I and Bill Clinton, which caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents, and after the systematic wrecking of the civilian infrastructure of Iraq by the U.S. Military in Gulf War I (Remember Kuwait?), the people of Iraq now get stuck, thanks to policies made in Washington, with urban guerrilla warfare, terrorism, and chaos. Again, the simple question is: why? Could all this insanity have happened by accident? Could it have been avoided altogether? What is motivating the leaders of both parties in Washington?

Item. "Our troops are fighting these terrorists in Iraq so you will not have to face them here at home." Ugh! Is Bush suggesting that if he had not ordered the invasion of Iraq, the terrorists now in Iraq would instead be setting off car bombs in America? He seems to be. So the invasion of Iraq was a brilliant ruse to trick the terrorists into fighting in the wrong country? Bush is a genius. I rest my case.

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Bush says US is in Iraq because of attacks on US

Sat Jun 18, 1:15 PM ET

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse

President George W. Bush defended the war in Iraq, telling Americans the United States was forced into war because of the September 11 terror strikes.

Bush also resisted calls for him to set a timetable for the return of thousands of US troops deployed in Iraq, saying Iraqis must be able to defend their own country before US soldiers can be pulled out.

"We went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.

Bush began a public relations offensive to defend the war as his approval rating has dropped well below 50 percent with Americans expressing skepticism about the invasion.

The centerpiece of the campaign will be a speech on June 28, exactly one year after the US-led coalition officially handed over sovereignty to a hand-picked Iraqi provisional government.

"Some may disagree with my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but all of us can agree that the world's terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror," said the president.

"These foreign terrorists violently oppose the rise of a free and democratic Iraq, because they know that when we replace despair and hatred with liberty and hope, they lose their recruiting grounds for terror," he argued.

"Our troops are fighting these terrorists in Iraq so you will not have to face them here at home."

Bush, who was to welcome Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari for his first visit to the White House on Friday, ruled out any hard and fast timetable for withdrawing the 130,000 US soldiers currently deployed in Iraq and made it clear that it will not be anytime soon.

Terrorists "know there is no room for them in a free and democratic Middle East, so the terrorists and insurgents are trying to get us to retreat," he said.

"Their goal is to get us to leave before Iraqis have had a chance to show the region what a government that is elected and truly accountable to its citizens can do for its people."

A June 13 USA Today poll showed that almost six of 10 Americans, 59 percent, want a full or partial pullout of US troops from Iraq.

In a New York Times/CBS News poll among 1,111 adults, Bush's approval rating dropped to 42 percent while 59 percent disapproved of his handling of Iraq.

Lawmakers from both parties, opposition Democrats and Bush's own Republicans, have called for a time frame for withdrawing from Iraq. More than 1,700 US soldiers have been killed there since US and British troops invaded in March 2003.

But the Bush administration has insisted that Iraqi troops must be ready to defend their own country before US troops can return to the United States.

"I am confident that Iraqis will continue to defy the skeptics as they build a new Iraq that represents the diversity of their nation and assumes greater responsibility for their own security," Bush said. "And when they do, our troops can come home with the honor they have earned."

"This mission isn't easy, and it will not be accomplished overnight. We're fighting a ruthless enemy that relishes the killing of innocent men, women, and children," he said.

"By making their stand in Iraq, the terrorists have made Iraq a vital test for the future security of our country and the free world. We will settle for nothing less than victory."