War-mongers love war. With two wars raging, the war-mongers want another one, with Iran. For months, the Bush administration has been saber-rattling for war with Iran, even suggesting that it could bring about World War III. The dangerous ideologues surrounding Bush said that Iran is working towards nuclear weapons and that Iran therefore poses a threat to world peace. This was the kind of rhetoric that led to war in Iraq, with hundreds of billions of dollars squandered. Except that the U.S. intelligence agencies said yesterday that Iran stopped its nuclear program in 2003.

No matter. Iran is still a threat, says George W. Bush, in a circular public statement that suggests: Iran is still bad, and bad people may still want nuclear weapons in the future. We call this "spin," i.e., twisting the news to favor our side. As the New York Times reports, Bush said today: "I still feel strongly that Iran’s a danger . . . I think it is very important for the international community to recognize the fact that if Iran were to develop the knowledge that they could transfer to a clandestine program, it would create a danger for the world.” He added, "What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program?"

Can we go to war because there is some possibility that they may have nuclear weapons at some undetermined time down the road? Who's buying this shit? Video here. Some good analysis here, suggesting that Bush was kept in the dark about the news that Iran has no nuclear weapons: "At the same time Bush was ratcheting up the rhetoric on Iran, he was told by his National Intelligence Director that that have 'some new information.' Yet Bush wants the public to believe he never learned what the information was, nor was he interested."

The video footage of Bush at today's press conference is quite troubling. He seems uncomfortable and defensive. He is a lame duck. No one cares anymore, we we are all waiting for the next President to take office. No one told him that being President would be hard. Bill Clinton made it look easy. He should welcome the intelligence findings that Iran has frozen its nuclear program. One less war to worry about. But some war-mongers can't get enough.

Update: it is being reported that the White House knew for months that Iran had shut down its nuclear weapons program. One writer for Harper's Magazine spoke to a reliable intelligence source who said, "The White House, and particularly Vice President Cheney, used every trick in the book to stop it from being finalized and issued. There was no last minute breakthrough that caused the issuance of the assessment.” So why delay the report which would reduce the chances of war with Iran and prevent the White House from spiking the rhetoric? Why?