Bush's Financial Katrina

"Noting that the report said there was no 'operational' link between Iraq and al-Qaeda, he said it documented 'extensive links with Egyptian Islamic Jihad,' a group headed bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, that later merged into al-Qaeda.

"'Now was that a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda?' he said. 'Seems to me pretty clear that there was.'

"Democrats in Washington leapt on Cheney's comments, comparing them to his prewar assertion that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators and his 2005 declaration that the insurgency was in its 'last throes.' Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) said Cheney should instead figure out how 'to find Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's senior leadership -- neither of whom are in Iraq.'

"Former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), co-chairman of the bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and found 'no operational relationship' between Iraq and al-Qaeda, said Cheney was parsing words to create a false impression.

"'They just keep repeating it -- the vice president uses the word "links," ' Hamilton said in an interview. 'Nobody really denies that. The question is 'Was there an operational relationship?,' and there's no evidence of that.'"

Here's the transcript of Cheney's short press conference yesterday. After calling on a few members of the White House press corps, Cheney closed with a pitch to Hayes. Kudos to the real reporter -- I think ABC's Martha Raddatz -- who tried to inject a little skepticism into the lovefest:

Cheney: "Steve Hayes."

Hayes: "Thanks, Mr. Vice President. Let me play to type, if I can, and ask a big-picture question. Lots of talk this week -- fifth anniversary week of the invasion -- about the case for war in Iraq. Last week, as you know, there was a report issued by the Pentagon that showed, among many other things, that Saddam Hussein had been supporting Ayman al Zawahiri, the Blind Sheikh. He had been training jihadists from Sudan and elsewhere in Iraq throughout the 1990s. He funded the precursor to Ansar al-Islam. I wonder if you could give me your thoughts on that report, and also explain why the White House isn't talking about it?"

Cheney: "Well, I've taken just a quick look at the summary portion of the report, Steve, and read an article in I think it was the Weekly Standard that dealt with the subject. I think there's never been any doubt in my mind but what Saddam Hussein was one of the prime state sponsors of terror in the world. He was designated that by the U.S. State Department.

"In addition to all the things you mentioned, he also used to provide $25,000 payments to the families of suicide bombers. I always hark back to the testimony of George Tenet, then CIA Director, gave in I think it was 2003 in public session -- this was open testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee -- that there was a relationship between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda that went back a decade.

"The fact is I think the report, to the extent I've been able to look at it, indicates pretty clearly that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis had a relationship with a broad range of terrorist groups back in the '90s, and I think that if you read the report you're talking about, just released by the Defense Intelligence Agency, it pretty conclusively makes that case."

Hayes: "Why isn't the White House talking more about it? I mean, it seems like it pretty clearly backs up the kinds of arguments you were making before the war. Why so little talk about it?"

Cheney: "Well, I think it just came out within the last few days. So I haven't had any conversations with it, for example, with the press office. I just -- you'd have to ask them, or I'll ask them when I get home."

Reporter: " -- also says there's no link between al Qaeda and Saddam --"

Cheney: "Well, it says no operational link. But there was, as I recall from looking at it, extensive links with Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Egyptian Islamic Jihad was the organization headed by Zawahiri, and he merged EIJ with al Qaeda when he became the deputy director of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's number two.

"Now, was that a link between Iraq and al Qaeda? Seems to me pretty clear that there was. But it's a question -- I would urge you to go read the report. I know ABC reported on it. If you dig into the report in depth, I think you may find that there was an extensive relationship with a broad range of terrorist groups, that he was a state sponsor of terror and I don't think there's any doubt about that."

Reporter: "So you think there was a direct link between al Qaeda --"

Cheney: "You heard what I said. I was very precise."

Reporter: "Yes, you were."

Hayes and Cheney have collaborated many times before, most notably on Hayes's authorized hagiography: "Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President." Hayes was also the author of a November 2003 article, based on a leaked, top-secret and quickly discredited memo from Cheney loyalist Douglas J. Feith, which argued that Osama bin Laden and Hussein had an operational relationship. Cheney later cited Hayes's article in interviews.

Five Years Ago Today

Here's Bush on March 17, 2003: "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.

"The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda.

"The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other. . . .

"All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. . . .

"And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished. And it will be no defense to say, 'I was just following orders.'"

Poll Watch

Gary Langer writes for ABC News on a new poll which shows Iraqis reporting improved security and economic conditions in their country. But look at the results and guess what? They overwhelmingly don't want us there anymore.

Among the findings:

* 73 percent -- including 95 percent of Sunnis -- oppose the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq.

* 61 percent say the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq is making security worse, rather than better.

* 42 percent think attacks on U.S. forces are acceptable.

* 46 percent think if American forces left, the security situation would be better, compared to 29 percent who say it would be worse.

Even offered a slew of fantasy options -- for instance, that U.S. forces should stay "until security is restored" or "until the Iraqi government is stronger" -- a plurality (38 percent) still said what they want is for U.S. forces to leave immediately.

Book Watch

Michiko Kakutani reviews "Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power" in the New York Times:

"American troops bogged down in Iraq, a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, an overstretched military and National Guard, simmering tensions with Iran and North Korea, and growing hostility toward the United States around the world: these are just some of the consequences of Bush administration foreign policy over the last seven years. To the Slate columnist Fred Kaplan, these woes all stem from two grand misconceptions held by the White House and its top advisers: that the world fundamentally changed after 9/11, when in fact 'the way the world works -- the nature of power, warfare and politics among nations -- remained essentially the same'; and that in a post-cold-war era, the United States 'had the power to set the terms of the new world order' and could therefore act unilaterally, without entangling alliances and without compromising 'with competing concepts or interests.'"

Kaplan "underscores the crucial role the speechwriter Michael Gerson, a self-described evangelical, played in linking the president's religious and moral imperatives with his expansionist foreign policy. And he argues that Elliott Abrams, a member of Mr. Bush's National Security Council (and a former Reagan administration official who was involved in the Iran-contra scandal), 'embodied both factions behind the administration's new policies -- the moral crusaders and the power-centric nationalists.'"

As for Bush, he "emerges from this book as a na¿ve, impulsive and stubborn leader, whose moral certitude and penchant for denial have made him more inclined to double down on a bad bet than ever to admit a mistake, a president whose post-9/11 search for a bold new approach to the world made him susceptible to neoconservative ideas of pre-emption and unilateralism that had gained little traction with his father or Bill Clinton.

"President Bush's strategies, Mr. Kaplan writes near the end of this incisive book, failed 'because they did not fit the realities of his era': 'They were based not on a grasp of technology, history or foreign cultures but rather on fantasy, faith and willful indifference toward those affected by their consequences.'"

Late Night Humor

On the Daily Show, Jon Stewart shows a clip in which CNBC anchor Mark Haines literally throws his hands in the air in disbelief after Bush's positive comments about the economy.

Stewart listens to Bush's constant repetition of economic affirmations and concludes that "must be his attempt at a Jedi mind-trick." But, Stewart says: "Here's the thing, Mr. President: In order for the Jedi mind-trick to work -- you have to be a Jedi."

Cartoon Watch

Steve Greenberg on the price of smugness; Ben Sargent on Bush asleep at the wheel; David Horsey on what Bush is on top of; Duane Powell on the cheerleader in chief; Joel Pett on Bush and Lady Liberty; Clay Jones on Cheney in the Middle East; Mike Luckovich on Bush's dog days.