"We Don' Need No Steenkin' WMDs..."

The New York Pravda delivers the most damning report of Dear Leader's excellent adventure to date:

...behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons...

Although the United States and Britain aggressively sought a second United Nations resolution against Iraq — which they failed to obtain — the president said repeatedly that he did not believe he needed it for an invasion.

Stamped "extremely sensitive," the five-page memorandum, which was circulated among a handful of Mr. Blair's most senior aides, had not been made public. Several highlights were first published in January in the book "Lawless World," which was written by a British lawyer and international law professor, Philippe Sands...

The memo indicates the two leaders envisioned a quick victory and a transition to a new Iraqi government that would be complicated, but manageable. Mr. Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups." Mr. Blair agreed with that assessment.

The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Mr. Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein...

It's a rare occasion when a Northwoods Operation sees the the light of day. The AfterDowningStreet.org people have the memo here. In the end, of course, no Gulf of Tonkin incident was needed.

Although the information is being leaked now to the main$tream media, whether it will be sustained or will be simply the harbinger of a new disinformation campaign is questionable.

Not to mention the motivations of the leakers, or the willingness of the Company to see it in press.

Perhaps what we're seeing is a good spanking of some members of the Group by the Board, or of Junior by Poppy, or an oversized tiff between Poppy and Babs.

Perhaps the Company professionals don't like to see amateurs working for the Mayberry Machiavellis getting their dirty fingers on the tapestry of global hegemony.

Perhaps it's the old bait and switch in a Congressional $election year.