Bush Lie Roundup

Let's see: The Bush Administration presented its case against Iranian involvement in Iraq, claiming the following:

• The new-and-improved IED, the EFP, was recently introduced to Iraq and has accounted for a growing number of US casualties.
• The EFP was obviously too sophisticated for native Iraqi manufacture.
• It therefore must have been made by Iran, given to the soldiers in Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, who have now used it against Americans.

A very convenient little story, in that it implies the guilt of both Iran and the turbulent priest himself. There are, however, a number of problems with this story.

• The EFP isn't new. It was introduced to Iraq over 2 years ago, probably by the Syrians. This actually makes more sense, because the Syrians would be arming the Sunnis, who actually have killed many US soldiers.
• This certainly isn't beyond the Iraq's capability to manufacture. The Syrian technique (see above) is at least decades old, and the idea goes back to the Nazis.
• Now the Bush Administration is even walking back from the claims that Iran is directly involved with any of this.

Once again: When the government says "it's classified, but trust us", they're lying.