And I can't even think of an excuse as to why they've kept this information secret while letting themselves get pummeled. If this is a rope-a-dope strategy, it will backfire. Everyone will now question their motives and they will need to explain themselves. I hope it's good.
"And I can't even think of an excuse as to why they've kept this information secret while letting themselves get pummeled."
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Bush was said to have been a great poker player at Yale. He has been waiting to play his best card last on the libs. As long as the libs concentrated on thinking they had Bush on the rope about WMD, Bush was going to let them. Then when they would have had nothing left, yank the rug.
The Administration response should be (because it is the truth):
"The reports that stockpiles of WMD were found in Iraq are correct. WMD were widely dispered in Iraq pre-invasion for use by terrorists, many of which have been found.
The terrorists, to date, apparently opted not to use the WMDs because the political damage of the 'no WMD in Iraq' was deemed more damaging to the war effort than the casualties from the use of WMD.
The administration was concerned that the public disclosure of the stockpiles would change this dynamic and encourage the terrorists to use the WMD.
The administration was willing to take the political damage from the false claims of 'no WMD in Iraq' in order to save the lives of American soldiers.
The administration would note members of Congress from both parties have been aware of the WMD stockpiles since prior to the 2004 elections.
Thank you."