[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Let 'em 'ave it, Ivan.

On a slightly different subject, my take on Blair, Bush, etc. is pretty much what has already been said on this thread (i.e. Blair and Bush know some pretty horrifying data that they can't share at the present time) but with a particular twist.

Based on what I have seen since 9/11 I believe it is Blair that has been out on front on this issue, even more so than Bush. I think it is Blair that has truly thought this one through and has brought Bush with him. I remember a Blair trip to Crawford TX soon after 9/11 and then seeing photo ops of Blair and Bush together. Bush looked like he'd just seen a ghost. I think he had and it was Blair who showed it to him.

That is the explanation for the titanium in Blair's backbone, IMHO. He is truly the originator of this policy, he believes in it with every fibre in his being, and he will do whatever it takes to see it to its logical conclusion.

[MadIvan]

I remember that meeting. Blair is not a man who takes political risks lightly, which is the strongest reason to believe that he must know something that he feels compelled not to share. It makes the desperation that he and Bush share about removing Saddam, all the more comprehensible.

One thing you must remember is that Clinton ran down American intelligence assets to ridiculous levels - so it is not surprising if Blair showed Bush something that Bush didn't know. For example, on 9/11, America had no intelligence operatives in Afghanistan. Not one. MI6, fortunately, did.

When Bill Clinton is going to be tried for treason is another matter.

Regards, Ivan