Referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq who was killed by American forces over the summer, he added, "The plan of Mr. Zarqawi was to foment sectarian violence."

Mr. Bush's remarks are at odds with statements made in recent weeks both by American military commanders and by Mr. Maliki.

While American military and intelligence officials credit Al Qaeda's attack on a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February with having sparked waves of sectarian violence, more recently the officials have consistently described a more complicated picture.  Earlier this month, Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples of the Defense Intelligence Agency characterized the situation before Congress as an "ongoing, violent struggle for power."

That assessment was more in line with Mr. Maliki's declaration after the recent bombings that such attacks are "the reflection of political backgrounds" and that "the crisis is political."


The president sees nothing to lose by lying.  Public support for him is so low that he assumes he's landed on the floor, the bare minimum of diehards, "dead-enders" who will always be there for him.  He sees the only possible way back up is to change the face of the "enemy" back to our actual enemy: Al Qaeda.  He and his people believe this is one of the only (if not the only) cards left available to play.

Personally, I think he's got this one wrong.  He is now the lamest of ducks.  His power to lie and influence the debate, particularly with regards to the greatest national security debacle in American history, is gone.  The November elections ended that.  They proved that not only do the American people no longer believe him, they are not willing to be lied to about this war anymore.