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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

More on the WMDs

Yesterday, DR gave a strenuous endorsement to John Judis’ and Spencer Ackerman’s mind-blowing expose of administration duplicity on the WMDs. If you haven’t read it yet, go and do so right now.
And, while you’re at it, here are some other recommendations. Jake Tapper in Salon.com has a nice run-down of how the administration’s rhetoric on Iraq evolved from halfway reasonable to cloud-cuckoo land over the year prior to the Iraq invasion. Also in Salon.com, Michelle Goldberg has a useful discussion of the “why don’t Americans seem to care about the missing WMDs?” issue, with citations to some of the key public opinion data. And Robert Dreyfuss, in the latest issue of The Nation, has an expose of yet another intelligence blunder: the failure to prepare an intelligence evaluation of what a post-Saddam Iraq might actually look like (as opposed to what Rumsfeld et. al. wanted it to look like). As the current chaotic situation continues, and US casualties mount, this particular failure could have serious political consequences for the Bushies.
The day also brings polling news that suggest the unsettled Iraq situation and missing WMDs are starting to take the shine off of Bush’s glossy approval ratings on foreign policy issues. According to the Gallup poll, his approval rating is down 7 points on the Middle East Situation, down 10 points on foreign affairs and down 13 points on the situation with Iraq.
In further signs of deterioration in the administration’s position, a Fox News poll finds an 11 point decline in those believing going to war with Iraq has been worth it. And the same poll finds the public split between those who believe either Bush or the intelligence agencies or both exaggerated the dangers of Iraq’s WMDs and those who believe there were not such exaggerations.