Would You Believe ...? In her senior honors thesis, Devon Largio of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign outlines 27 different rationales used by the Bush administration for the war in Iraq. In her 212-page study -- "Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq: The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress and the Media from September 12, 2001, to October 11, 2002" -- Largio "not only identified the rationales offered for going to war, but also established when they emerged and who promoted them. She also charted the appearance of critical keywords such as Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Iraq to trace the administration’s shift in interest from the al Qaeda leader to the Iraqi despot, and the news media’s response to that shift." [Links to the PDF filesd for the Abstract and Table of Contents, Executive Summary and Thesis.]

Also "Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq During Arrest, Internment and Interrogation" has been posted online.

Another "Bring 'Em On" Moment. "Arab commentators reacted with shock and disbelief to US President George Bush's robust backing of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. ... 'After the torture and vile acts by the American army, President Bush goes out and congratulates Rumsfeld. It's just incredible. I am in total shock,' said the editor of the influential Algerian national daily al-Watan. ... Analysts have said the damage from images seen worldwide of soldiers abusing naked Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghuraib prison would be indelible, incalculable and a gift to al-Qaida leader Usama bin Ladin."

When the Bush administration's lawyers assured the Supreme Court that the government "would honor its obligations under the [Geneva] 'convention to prohibit torture and that sort of thing,' it already knew about the Abu Ghraib incidents. More lies -- this time to the Supreme Court. (Kos on Rumsfeld)