So what's the most dishonest thing that's come out of Dubya's crowd about the war? Was it Colin Powell giving a speech to the UN "proving" the WMD threat, having previously told Jack Straw that he regarded the evidence himself as dubious, and could only hope that it wouldn't "explode in their faces"? Was it the staged speech on the aircraft carrier, declaring victory even though the situation on the ground was falling to pieces, and Saddam Hussein is now believed to be alive, well, and running a resistance? Was it the post hoc attempt to turn two trailers into a casus belli, even though they seem more suited for hydrogen production, which is what the Iraqis say they were for, than for bioweapons production, for which they are missing crucial components? I've got a soft spot myself for the high tech, quick response decapitation strike on the opening night of the war -- targeting a bunker which apparently didn't exist.

But for sheer, unjustified ugliness, my choice would have to be this: "We need to support the troops", coming from an administration which actually cut veterans' benefits on the eve of the war, deliberately set in its current forces undermanned, and failed to provide proper reinforcement, or even spare parts, afterward. The third infantry division has now been stressed beyond the limit; their equipment is breaking down and they are no longer combat capable. As to the troops, who were promised that they could go home after we "won", and who have been ordered to stay on well after the declaration of "victory", morale is dismal, witness this letter Jim Henley received from a military spouse.

To quote the last antiwar rally I attended before hostilities kicked off: "Support our troops! Bring them home!"

But no doubt we'll be hearing that line again. On to Tehran!

(Links via Eschaton, The Agonist, and probably others...)

Update: ... and one of them had problems; the Guardian has retracted the story about Powell's meeting with Straw, though the evidence he presented of specific facilities at specific places seems to have blown up in his face regardless...