Bush's boy at the NYT, MICHAEL R. GORDON, posts an article today with the headline, Bush Distorts Qaeda Links, Critics Assert. The usual unnamed "Military intelligence officials" and "American intelligence agencies" are cited in what could not be considered Gordon's best effort at fellating state power to-date. However, Gordon cites only one lone 'critic', Bruce Riedel of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and a former C.I.A. official. So, those admiring of Gordon's work shouldn't feel completely abandoned.

Gordon seems to yawn his way through starkly damning figures. We know, and Gordon writes, that Bush has trotted out al Qaeda "with frequency in the past few months" in attempts to bolster support for his ongoing Failure In Iraq® adventure story, ostensibly to create more of the same. It's a never ending story, dontcha know. Let's look at what is useful in the rest of the article:

• Simple. "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia did not exist before the Sept. 11 attacks."

Hey, you don't see that written everyday. In fact, it seems not to have been known inside the beltway for years. Gordon quotes Gen. Petraeus saying AQM is “the principal short-term threat to Iraq.” [underline mine -ww] Its a sign. Of something. I wish they would stick to the established Friedman Unit of Measurement, though.

• American intelligence agencies believe AQM is "overwhelmingly Iraqi", and "financing is derived largely indigenously from kidnappings and other criminal activities."

Neat. Didn't mention Saudi Arabia even once.

•"Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who became the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, came to Iraq in 2002 when Saddam Hussein was still in power."

This would roughly coincide with the time frame when nearly everyone on the planet, except for Congress, possibly, felt pretty sure about the chances of war with Iraq. In the salad days of summer 2002 everyone I remember talking to thought it a done deal. We made guesses on when, not whether. I said 18 months. ooops.

• Gordon writes: The precise size of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is not known. Estimates are that it may have from a few thousand to 5,000 fighters and perhaps twice as many supporters. While the membership of the group is mostly Iraqi, the role that foreigners play is crucial.

I'm not entirely sure what difference is meant between 'fighter' and 'supporter', or even what 'crucial' means in this context, for that matter. Gordon doesn't say. But, if the "overwhelmingly Iraqi" AQM is 15k strong, has 5k fighters and is the "principal short-term threat" in Iraq, just what in the hell is Bush talking about, and why do we have nearly 200,000 soldiers in Iraq for over 4 years? You still need an armed escort to get from the airport to the Greenzone, for cryin' out loud. Don't take your helmet off upon arrival either.

I'm pretty sure Gordon's intention wasn't to so bluntly map out what a complete farce and deadly charade this war has become. But that's the deal. His remark on Bush's "stark and ominous defense" was fairly cogent too. I can only surmise that Gordon is preoccupied with a Bloodthirsty Monster Iran deadline.