I think this is important, because truth is important. I know that's a bit out of fashion with our "ends justifies the means" pro-Bush folks. But if the case for war was so complete and compelling, why was there a need for this bullshit propaganda story?
Why does everything that come up negative, have to have been a lie from a propaganda campain? Sheesh, this thinking is so idiotic. A few other possibilities, the machine was taken out of service and removed way before the war, or perhaps it was an Iraqi urban legend based on something else, perhaps the fact that the regime was cruel and inhumane. OR, perhaps the Bush Administration went back in time to 1996 and planted the story so that British author could write about it... hmmmm. Paging Mr. Occam...