EJ Dionne has this column up on the Washington Post today. The gist of the column is that perhaps the Bush War Machine wasn’t actually lying to us, the problem is that they believed their own propaganda.

The most damaging document supporting this claim is not secret, and remains one of the most important artifacts of the prewar debate. It is the transcript of “Meet the Press” from March 16, 2003, in which Vice President Cheney gave voice to the administration’s optimistic assumptions that have now been laid low by reality.

Host Tim Russert asked whether “we would have to have several hundred thousand troops there” in Iraq “for several years in order to maintain stability.” Cheney replied: “I disagree.” He wouldn’t say how many troops were needed, but he added that “to suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don’t think is accurate. I think that’s an overstatement.”

Russert asked: “If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?”

Cheney would have none of it. “Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. I’ve talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House. . . . The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want [is to] get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.”

Russert: “And you are convinced the Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shiites will come together in a democracy?”

Cheney: “They have so far.” And the vice president concluded: “I think the prospects of being able to achieve this kind of success, if you will, from a political standpoint, are probably better than they would be for virtually any other country and under similar circumstances in that part of the world.”

So they’re not liars; they are just grudge-holding war-profiteers who put pressure on the CIA to make a case for war and incompetant dolts who didn’t follow through on planning the aftermath of the war.

To me, the most damning part of the Downing Street Minutes and other recently-leaked documents is the part where they say “There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.” There was no doubt we could roll over the Iraqi regular army. But Cheney and others were so blinded by their “liberators” dream that they didn’t account for a drawn-out insurgency, ignoring the pleas of people like General Shinseki who were telling them they’d need a much larger force for a much longer time to secure Iraq.

We can argue about who knew what about Saddam’s WMDs and when. We can argue about whether going to Iraq was pre-planned and whether BushCo was lying about it. But regardless of the justification to (manipulation of) the American public, the Commander-In-Chief owes it to the troops to have a realistic battle plan.

Unfortunately, Shrub ran this oil venture much like his previous oil ventures — right into the ground. Unfortunately, Daddy’s friends in high places and all the money in the world won’t bring 1,725 American Servicemen back to life.