WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush's latest attempt to justify his Iraq policy with a televised address to America comes as more evidence emerges that the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice. In arguing that the United States must persevere because Iraq has become "a central front in the war on terror," he sounds like the man who kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court for being an orphan.
It has long been evident that leading administration officials desired war against Iraq long before Sept. 11, 2001. A series of leaked British government documents demonstrate that the lengthy "debate" over Iraq was Kabuki theater, irrelevant to the preordained result.
On July 23, 2002, British foreign policy aide Matthew Rycroft wrote the "Downing Street" memo summarizing a briefing by Richard Dearlove, then head of MI-6, Britain's CIA. Rycroft observed that "it seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided." Moreover, "military action was now seen as inevitable."