If this happened while Gore (or Clinton) was President (and the Iraq war probably would have happened since the advisors and those think tanks work and advise for both parties-Richard Pearl is a Democrat) we would have demanded an impeachment.Nonsense. Remember when Clinton bombed the aspirin factory? That was a much more significant intelligence failure, and no one called for his impeachment over that failure (although some did because he seemed to order the attack to give him political cover).
The African nuclear material story was not a case of the Bush White House telling a lie, just a show of incompetence by the Bush White House.The African nuclear material story is much ado over nothing. It is so much so that it is long past the point where it is more than fair to openly question the motives of those attempting to portray it as something big.
You said: The African nuclear material story is much ado over nothing. It is so much so that it is long past the point where it is more than fair to openly question the motives of those attempting to portray it as something big.
My reply: It was incompetence to include that in the speech. Blame it from the staff that OKed the speech, the speech writers, whoever. If incompetence is too harsh a word I would then call it foolish to have exposed the president to such a thing.
I also call Bush on the fact he continues NOT to fire people over these failures--no one fired over 9/11, no one fired after this speech fiasco..enough already--clean house or the blame will fall on you Mr. President.
By the way, I never give any President, even one I vote for my obedience. My obedience is to my country as formed by the constitution. The suggestion that attacking Bush or any sitting president is un-American is a "Fuhrer principle" I do not subscribe to.