With all the "One Year Later" retrospectives going around, a reader at Atrios’ site posted Bush’s speech of March 13, 2003 — the start of the war. Many of us thought it was a crock then — and now — with benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it clearly was one.

This passage particularly struck me:

The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed.

What can one make of this statement, now that we know that Saddam had already been disarmed? If we are to take Bush at his word, then "the terrorist threat to America" was not as big as we thought it was — even one year ago!

That’s the problem with speculating about the present and the future when you don’t know the facts (or don’t care about them) — you have to eat your words. Bon appetit, Mr. President!