Letter: Bush’s ignorance plea wearing thin

Friday, Dec. 14, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

Before the attacks of 9/11, President Bush said, he didn't know his chief counterterrorism officer had told his national security adviser that a terrorist attack was imminent. Although a former ambassador was sent to Africa to investigate a supposed nuclear materials purchase by Iraq and reported the information was false, the president says he included the phony charge in his 2003 State of the Union speech because he did not know it was untrue.

He did not know whether anyone in his administration had revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent as retribution for her husband's opposition to his flawed Iraq policies. He did not know that another of his top aides had lied to a grand jury to cover up the investigation.

As he continued his accusations about Iran's nuclear intentions to create an atmosphere of fear in America, he says he was not informed that the combined intelligence agencies of the United States determined early this year that Iran was not a nuclear threat. Although the former legal counsel he conferred with daily had advised the CIA not to destroy videotapes of interrogations, the president states he was unaware of her actions.

If a 4-year-old child denied having been in the cookie jar but had crumbs on his face and hands, wouldn't we send him to his room for lying? Why do we let this president, whose denials and false statements have resulted in the deaths of nearly 4,000 American troops and many more thousands of Iraqi citizens, and the loss of billions of dollars, continue in office without accountability for his deceitfulness?

Don't blame George Bush for his continued mockery of the truth. He never gets sent to his room.

Phil Ventura, Las Vegas