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Don Van Natta, Jr., of the New York Times is reporting on a "confidential memo" written by David Manning, top foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. According to the memo, President George Bush:

• Acknowledged as early as Jan. 31, 2003 that no WMD had been found inside Iraq;

• Was determined to invade Iraq even if no WMD were found;

• Had set the start date for the invasion prior to sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to United Nations to present "evidence" that Iraq had WMD, and while stating publically that he'd pursue every diplomatic avenue;

• In the absence of WMD as pretext for the invasion, proposed several ways to "provoke a confrontation" with Iraq, including painting a U.S. plane "in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire", "...bring[ing] out a defector who could give a public presentation" on WMD, and assassinating Saddam Hussein.

And how, in light of this information, does Mr. Van Natta summarize Mr. Bush's stance, in the first sentence of the second paragraph?

But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable.

Call us picky, but isn't that a bit like saying that a burglar is certain that houses will be broken into?

Far be it from 201k to question the integrity of the New York Times' coverage of the road to the War in Iraq...but seeing as it occasionally happens that the media tends to overlook their role in debacles (Remember "The New Economy"?), we have a few uncomfortable questions about some of the specific language in this article. Since the text of Manning's memo is not provided we're unable to compare it to the Times' reporting. But should the text become available, these are the phrases -- not provided as quotes in the article -- we'll be looking at:

The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq.

"Had been found"? Or would ever be found? What, exactly, did Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair say?

Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion...

"...before the planned invasion"? Or ever? Why did they need to be found before the invasion, and what was the reason for the invasion date? What, exactly, did Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair say?

At their meeting, Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair candidly expressed their doubts that chemical, biological or nuclear weapons would be found in Iraq in the coming weeks..."

"...in the coming weeks"? Or ever? What, exactly, did Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair say?

The president spoke as if an invasion was unavoidable.

"Unavoidable"? Why? What, exactly, did Mr. Bush say?

The leaders agreed that three weeks remained to obtain a second United Nations Security Council resolution before military commanders would need to begin preparing for an invasion.

Really? Why? What set the date for the invasion? What, exactly, did Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair say?

It also described the president as saying, "The U.S. might be able to bring out a defector who could give a public presentation about Saddam's W.M.D," referring to weapons of mass destruction.

The memo "described him as saying" that? Really? Funny thing to have said, given that in this same meeting Mr. Bush acknowledged that no weapons had been found. Did Mr. Bush or Mr. Blair discuss this seeming contradiction?

What, exactly, did Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair say?