Here we go again

Since cooked-up intelligence worked so well in Iraq, George W. Bush, still feeling like a pencil-dick after three years of war in Iraq, is getting ready to use the same tactic of lies and deceit to make himself feel like a man in Iran next -- using YOUR kids:

Republican Congressman Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a member of the Homeland Security Committee, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that he "knows for sure" that bin Laden has been "in and out of Iran, where Ayatollah Khomenei has been protecting him with his Revolutionary Guard."

Oddly enough, the storyline starts to sound more and more familiar from there: Apparrently Weldon's take doesn't jive with a high-level assessment at the CIA. As Blitzer pointed out during the interview, Weldon's information on bin Laden and Iran is based on a sole secret source known as "Ali," who claims to have information regarding the location of bin Laden, future terrorist threats and Iran's nuclear weapons program -- and who has been tagged as bunk by at least one knowledgeable member of the agency. CIA Officer Bill Murray told The New York Times on June 9 that he met with "Ali" when he was stationed in Paris: "He's never given us any information that was the slightest bit credible," Murray said. "This guy was a waste of my time and resources."

That assessment didn't do anything to dissuade Weldon about a connection between the al-Qaida mastermind and Iran. From the "Late Edition" transcript:

BLITZER: How can you be so confident of that when the CIA says they're not confident of that? They dismiss it.

WELDON: Two years ago, the CIA was totally dismissing that bin Laden would be in Iran. But if you look at the recent comments coming out of both the CIA and some of our military generals in theater, they're now acknowledging the same thing that I've been saying -- that in fact, he's been in and out of Iran. No one can prove it exactly until we capture him. But you asked my opinion. My opinion is he's been in and out of Iran several times over the past several years.

The only question is: Will Americans fall for it?

As a gesture of defiance against being played for a fool by the bunch of evil, greedy, venal little weasels that run this country, I dined sumptuously this evening on Addas Polo at the Persian Grill in Lafayette Hill, PA.