Why Bush went to war in Iraq

Helen Thomas asked just the right question:

Q I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it? Link.

Since then, in discussions about the latest-revealed memo on the subject, written by David Manning, Tony Blair's top foreign policy adviser, pundits and experts have taken various stabs at providing an answer, but no answer has been found. In the process, the war in Iraq has been blamed on Cheney's influence, on "the neocons," on Bush's desire for Armageddon -- you name it.

But they are all wrong. It was Karl Rove's war.

I haven't a doubt in the world that Rove made a calculation that 9/11 gave them the opportunity to lock in the Bush administration for a full two terms, because it is axiomatic (and there's no doubt he knows) that Americans will not change Presidents in a time of war.

There is plenty of evidence to support my contention: Remember Andy Card's saying "you don't bring out a new product in August"? Remember how quickly Bush got his tax cuts right after 9/11? Remember the found computer CD with PowerPoint details for running the next campaign around the war? And of course, how many times have we been reminded that Bush is a "war president"?

Cynical sacrifice of our young troops for political gain? You tell me. I think Helen Thomas knows it, too.