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Nicholas Kristof, in an opinion piece that uses an Al Franken method of lying (fake conversations) tries to pretend that President Bush was oblivious to the threat posed by al Qaeda and is responsible for 9-11.

Haven't we already covered this ground?

Well, yes, we have, but the anti-Bush crowd is determined to repeat "it is Bush's fault" all the way up to the election. The facts be damned!

First mistake Kristof makes: pretending that the August 6, 2001 briefing was "news" for President Bush. President Bush asked for an update on national security, not the other way around.

Second mistake: pretending that anything in the memo provided new, specific information about threats. Bin Laden wants to strike the United States? Gee, what else is new? Where? When? How? Oh, well, that information isn't available!

Third mistake: pretending that all information available to the Clinton era national security team was available to President Bush. It is ludicrous to claim that the entire sum knowledge of intelligence efforts was imparted to President Bush in the months following his election victory. In addition, if this sum knowledge would have given him cause for action, why didn't the Clinton administration act on it? Why wasn't it a major campaign issue? Why didn't Clinton's 1999 threat assessment talk about bin Laden at all? It mentioned regime change in Iraq and global warming, but not bin Laden!

Fourth mistake: pretending that the Clinton administration, with actual knowledge of the intelligence of that era should have done exactly what it did—nothing—in the five years after the 1995 hijacking plot was uncovered, but that President Bush, with a limited subset of that information should have done something in the eight months he was in office.

Fifth mistake: pretending that US intelligence agencies had "connected the dots" but that it was only inaction on President Bush's part that allowed 9-11 to happen. The fact is that US intelligence agencies had not connected the dots and so Kristof's imaginary conversation is not just fantasy, it is (despite Kristof's admission that it is hindsight) a deliberate lie.

Sixth mistake: lying about Iraqi WMD. Terrorists have used chemical weapons, obtained in Syria, in an attempt to kill tens of thousands in Jordan. The obvious question is how did WMD get to Syria? Oh yeah, didn't David Kay say something about WMD possibly being transferred to Syria by Saddam Hussein? Where's the imaginary conversation about that, Kristof?

Seventh mistake: claiming that President Bush should apologize for something, when the vast majority of intelligence failures, such as the Gorelick edict, and missed opportunities, such as refusing to accept bin Laden when Sudan offered him up, occurred during the Clinton administration. Note that the entire Bush team has steadfastly refused to point fingers of blame, unlike the anti-Bush crowd.

Mr. Kristof, if you are going to lie, you could at least try to make it a good one.

The anti-Bush crowd is determined to repeat "it is Bush's fault" all the way up to the election.

First mistake Kristof makes: pretending that the August 6, 2001 briefing was "news" for President Bush.

If this sum knowledge would have given Bush cause for action, why didn't the Clinton administration act on it?

The entire Bush team has steadfastly refused to point fingers of blame, unlike the anti-Bush crowd.