Not to Be Trusted

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Bush administration's latest story line about Iraq -- that Iran is now the primary problem there -- should be greeted with profound skepticism.

Not only is it the latest in a series of rationales for U.S. involvement in Iraq, most of which have turned out to be based on flawed intelligence, misrepresentations or outright dishonesty.

But there are at least two illegitimate reasons why the White House would want the American public to see Iran as a threat right now.

One is that President Bush needs a definable, demonizable enemy for public-relations purposes, to take attention away from the reality that U.S. troops remain perilously and indefinitely astride several civil wars and resistance movements.

And the other is that the White House -- or at least the Cheney faction within it -- is still eager to do something definitive to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions before the end of Bush's term. With a preemptive strike off the table, advocates of a military attack could be looking for a provocation they could turn into a casus belli.

And so, nothing these people say at this point should be taken at face value -- even when it's supported by military officials on the ground. Many sincere people with plausible-sounding assessments have turned out to be selling a bill of goods when it comes to Iraq.

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