Reuters offered up a welcome headline today - “Bush Accepts Blame for African Uranium Charge”

Okay, the above seven-word headline might be much more specific, detailed, and comprehensive than anything anything Bush actually said. But you have to give our President points for really talking straight about that situation with the thing in that place and what he said about it:


Q Mr. President, you often speak about the need for accountability in many areas. I wonder then, why is Dr. Condoleezza Rice not being held accountable for the statement that your own White House has acknowledged was a mistake in your State of the Union address regarding Iraq’s attempts to purchase uranium? And also, do you take personal responsibility for that inaccuracy?

THE PRESIDENT: I take personal responsibility for everything I say, of course. Absolutely. I also take responsibility for making decisions on war and peace. And I analyzed a thorough body of intelligence — good, solid, sound intelligence — that led me to come to the conclusion that it was necessary to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Now, to the casual reader this might not seem like a thorough accounting of the yellowcake scandal that has been occupying the attention of every major media outlet in the world for the past few weeks. Cynics might point out that the words “Niger,” “Africa,” “uranium,” yellowcake,” and any other noun that directly concerns the controversy were lacking from the President’s remarks. Traitors might even question what exactly Bush means when he says that the false claims are his responsibility but offers no information or explanation.

But the rest of us can breathe easy now. The President has stepped up. He analyzed a thorough body of intelligence. If some of the stuff might not have been the thing that he thought it was, then there’s no doubt that he’ll talk to some guys who know about those places and said some things about that stuff. Guaranteed. Case closed.

I for one am much relieved that this is over now and the press seems satisfied. I hate for this to linger and interfere with the good times in Crawford, which would distract attention from the brush clearing and hiking stories that are so vital to our national interest.