Rand Peltzer, Fantastic ideas for a Fantastic World, I make the illogical logical

Hindrocket at Powerline is perturbed that he has to continue to deal with that old canard that the rationale for the war in Iraq keeps shifting. I'm sympathetic to the poor guy. It's got to be a huge hassle to have to repeatedly have to fish out that bag of fairy dust and wish the last five years away.

Raum continues to expand on this theme, but without citing any evidence whatsoever. In fact, as we have often noted, if you listened to any of the speeches President Bush gave on Iraq in 2003 or read the Congressional authorization on the war, every rationale that has ever been discussed is there. And, as I have often said, bringing reform and democracy to the Arab world was perceived by me, and by many if not most of the war's early supporters, as the most important goal.

As an early supporter of the war I have to differ with John on this. I percieved the war's goal as that of saving the nearly extinct Rainbow unicorn species (not to be confused with the Norwegian Blue unicorn, lovely plumeage) which dwells exclusively in the hills of Northern Iraq. Take Bush's 2002 State of the Union-

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade.

This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

That "something" that they were hiding was obviously the unicorns.

Not convinced? Consider the joint authorization on use of force on Iraq-

Whereas Iraq, in direct and flagrant violation of the cease-fire, attempted to thwart the efforts of weapons inspectors to identify and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stockpiles and development capabilities, which finally resulted in the withdrawal of inspectors from Iraq on October 31, 1998;

The Iraqis weren't worried about the inspectors finding any of their non-existent WMDs. They were afraid the inspectors would discover Sadaam's secret plan to irradicate the unicorn species.

At least that's how I "perceived" it.