Iran War Justification Part II

Saddam has WMD! No, he's in league with Al-Qaeda! No, wait...lemme see...he's a brutal dictator! That doesn't work? OK, how about....we have to liberate the Iraqi people and spread democracy!

To quote Derek Jacobi as the Emperor Claudius in the final episode of I, Claudius, "It's all so depressingly familiar."

As the "Iranian weapons are killing our troops" tactic falls apart, the Bush Administration has to come up with another reason to attack Iran. The latest? Moqtada al-Sadr is now living there:

The powerful Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has left Iraq and has been living in Iran for the past several weeks, senior Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

With fresh American forces arriving in Baghdad as part of the White House plan to stabilize the capital, officials in Washington suggested that Mr. Sadr might have fled Iraq to avoid being captured or killed during the crackdown.

But officials also said that Mr. Sadr, who has family in Iran, had gone to Tehran in the past and that it was unclear why he had chosen to leave Iraq at this time. Mr. Sadr’s departure from Iraq was first reported Tuesday night by ABC News.

Heh. ABC News. The Bush Administration's BFFs in the media. Well, I know I'll believe everything The Network That Brought You The Path to 9/11 says.

American and Iraqi officials have said that recent intelligence points to signs of fracturing within the Mahdi Army, and that radical splinter groups who are not under Mr. Sadr’s control could be carrying out commando-style raids and assassinations.

Officials have suggested that these splinter groups could be receiving orders from officials in Iran, but have not offered direct evidence to back up their claims.

You've got to love all those "speculation words": "might have fled Iraq." splinter groups "could" be carrying out raids. If you think this means the Administration is getting cautious and is determined not to make the same mistake twice, guess again. Remember, this policiy is being run by a guy who believes in the One Percent Doctrine -- that if there is a one percent chance something MIGHT be true, you proceed as if it is a certainty.

They threw the Iranian-made bomb feces up against the wall and it didn't stick. Now they're lobbing lumps of Scary Muslim Terrorist Leader at the same wall. Let's see if THAT one sticks.