I'm confused, aren't you?

So the media is leaked excerpts of the classified National Intelligence Estimate that states the Iraq war has done nothing to combat terrorism but has instead made the fight harder.

This, of course, is the exact opposite of what the Bush administration has been force-feeding us for the past three years. (If something is repeated over and over, does that make it true? Some would argue "yes.")

Our invasion and occupation of Iraq strengthening the terrorist cause. This is certainly unacceptable information. George Bush responds, saying media accounts of the leaked report would only "create confusion in the minds of the American people."

Confused. That's what happens in George Bush's world when Americans hear facts. They become confused.

Can Americans not think? Can Americans not handle a nuanced, complex situation? According to Bush, no, we cannot. He wants the Iraq war to be like those new allergy pills that dissolve peacefully with a sweet, citrus burst the moment they hit your tongue. Instead, leaked reports are giving us those big horse-pills that fall apart in your mouth, tasting like you had just licked the floor of a pharmacy. With no water.

Come to think of it, if all the information you receive had been delicately crafted in Bush's fantasy land and/or filtered through Fox News, then I guess you would be confused.

We've been told again and again how necessary this war is, it being the central front to the war on terror. Fight them there or fight them here, they say. It's that simple. Wait, our government's top spy and intelligence analysts say Iraq has made the war on terror worse? That's . . . confusing.

When you hear "mission accomplished" and "last throes" and then watch thousands more U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians killed, that becomes confusing. When Bush succeeds at linking Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda and then five years later says "Oh did I do that? My bad!" That becomes confusing.

Thanks. Do your best to confuse us and then blame us for being confused.