The Bush Administration has been assailed, since going into Iraq, by a “Bush lied, people died!” platform on the left, the single strongest point in the entire liberal anti-Bush arsenal of rhetoric.

The so-called “lies” are pretty interesting as they were all supported, vociferously, along with the need to oust Saddam Hussein, by the same portside politicians that now deny having ever uttered the opinion that Saddam had WMD or accusing the Bush Administration of tampering with intelligence that led them to the above opinions.

They are bald-faced, politically motivated liars. Even if Bush or Cheney had managed, for whatever reason, to manipulate the conclusions of the CIA regarding the presence of WMD in Iraq, one would have to say, then, that France, Germany and the other countries that opposed us going into Iraq also altered their intelligence, because their leaders all believed, based upon reports from their own intelligence agencies, that the WMD were there and that Saddam was expanding his NBC warfare inventory on an ongoing basis. And all agreed, until we invaded Iraq, that the weapons posed a threat to the immediate region and to the west, since in the latter case it was believed that Saddam might pass some of the weapons of mass destrucion on to terrorists.

The actual crux of the gripes I have is the fact that the left has totally lost its conscience and any semblance of honesty, and in pursuit of goals not compatible with the objectives of America’s founding concepts, they have no problem where ignoring facts or outright lying, and that includes the news media, which supports them, is concerned.

Dubya did not take us to war in Iraq lightly, he had justifiable reasons that have since manifested their purpose, though the Mainstream Media, out of political bias, does not report any of these positives.

However, Norman Podhoretz puts the entire situation in perspective.

The very idea that the Democrats would turn around and pretend that they never endorsed an invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the denial motivated by the War On Bush, pretty much demonstrates the lack of honesty, truth and soul on the left side of the political spectrum.

Among the many distortions, misrepresentations and outright falsifications that have emerged from the debate over Iraq, one in particular stands out above all others. This is the charge that George W. Bush misled us into an immoral or unnecessary war in Iraq by telling a series of lies that have now been definitively exposed.

What makes this charge so special is the amazing success it has enjoyed in getting itself established as a self-evident truth even though it has been refuted and discredited over and over again by evidence and argument alike. In this it resembles nothing so much as those animated cartoon characters who, after being flattened, blown up or pushed over a cliff, always spring back to life with their bodies perfectly intact. Perhaps, like those cartoon characters, this allegation simply cannot be killed off, no matter what.

Nevertheless, I want to take one more shot at exposing it for the lie that it itself really is. Although doing so will require going over ground that I and many others have covered before, I hope that revisiting this well-trodden terrain may also serve to refresh memories that have grown dim, to clarify thoughts that have grown confused, and to revive outrage that has grown commensurately dulled.

So read the column.