Is George W. Bush a Liar, Delusional Zealot or a Misinformed Cretin?

The release of the new National Intelligence Estimate shows that the Chipmerator's claimed intelligence information used to support his [lunatic] bellicose calls to bomb Iran back in October was false. Worse yet, the Chimperator had apparently been told of information that undercut his public statements long before he even made the statements. Thus, the question is whether (a) Bush was outright lying, (b) so obsessed with his Christianist delusion that he is on a God directed crusade that facts do not matter, or (c) was he so misinformed that he did not know the full information. Personally, I vote for both (a) and (b), above. In all events, someone needs to be held accountable and called to resign from office be it the Chimperator of his subordinates - e.g., Hadley or Condi Rice - in the case where he truly did not know the full intelligence information. Here are some Washington Post story highlights:

President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program. The new intelligence report released yesterday not only undercut the administration's alarming rhetoric over Iran's nuclear ambitions but could also throttle Bush's effort to ratchet up international sanctions and take off the table the possibility of preemptive military action before the end of his presidency.

Critics seized on the new National Intelligence Estimate to lambaste what Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards called "George Bush and Dick Cheney's rush to war with Iran." Jon Wolfsthal, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, termed the revelation "a blockbuster development" that "requires a wholesale reevaluation of U.S. policy."

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which was briefed on the U.S. intelligence report two hours before its release, saw the judgments as validation of its own long-standing conclusion that there is "no evidence" of an undeclared nuclear program in Iran. "It also validates the assessments of [IAEA Director General] Mohamed ElBaradei, who continuously said in his public statements that he saw no clear and public danger, and that therefore there was plenty of time for negotiations," said a senior IAEA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Still, the administration understood how explosive the new conclusions would be and kept them tightly held. Hadley said Bush was first told in August or September about intelligence indicating Iran had halted its weapons program, but was advised it would take time to evaluate. Vice President Cheney, Hadley and other top officials were briefed the week before last. Intelligence officials formalized their conclusions on Tuesday and briefed Bush the next day.