Paul Greenberg: An imminent threat - to his own credibility

The Big Lie in this rapidly over-heating presidential campaign is that George W. Bush claimed Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat.

Actually, what George W. Bush said in his State of the Union address last year was just the opposite - that this country dare not wait until a threat is imminent before responding to it, not after what happened September 11, 2001.

Or to put it another way: "Why is Saddam Hussein attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don't even try? According to intelligence, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons . . . ."

That was John F. Kerry on Oct. 9, 2002, speaking from his vantage point on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Is Senator Kerry now going to accuse himself of hyping the intelligence reports, misleading the American people and generally taking this country into war under false pretenses?

Pop quiz: Who said, "I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."? Surprise, it was John F. Kerry.