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Someone check the thermometer in hell. This week has made me long for the message discipline, consistency and eloquence of George W. Bush.

The justification for the war in Iraq launched in 2003 may have been a campfire story cooked up to scare Congress, but at least the Bush administration went to the trouble of getting a narrative together and sticking to it. 

The United States began carrying out strikes on Iran less than a week ago. In the days since, top Trump officials have offered at least three separate justifications for the conflict. 

Starting at the top, President Donald Trump has cited regime change in Iran and the possibility of Iran developing missiles that could reach the United States as the reason for the attacks. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went a step further, calling the supposed missile program a “shield for [Iran’s] nuclear blackmail ambitions.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a third justification to reporters on Monday, saying that the U.S. knew of Israeli plans to attack Iran and joined in the operation as a preemptive strike against possible retaliation against U.S. interests in the region.

“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” he said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added a few more reasons into the stew of interventionist excuses. In a statement shared on social media, she said the Trump administration hopes to “annihilate” Iran’s Navy and seemingly rid the entire  country of Iran of anything combustible.

“[We want to] stop them from making and using IEDs or roadside bombs, which have gravely wounded and killed thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans,” she wrote.

This rapid-fire mission-creep confusion has confused lawmakers, who vote on war powers resolutions meant to rein in the president this week. 

“I am no more clear on what the priorities are going to be of the administration going forward,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. said after a closed-door briefing on the conflict Tuesday, “whether it is destroying the nuclear capacity of Iran, or simply the missiles, or regime change or stopping terrorist activity.”

The Senate struck down their war powers resolution yesterday, but I’m still with Rich here. You’ll never see me joining in the (frankly disgusting) rehabilitation of Dubya that paints him as a kinder, gentler mass murderer. But as new ex post facto justifications for the war in Iran crop up daily, forgive me if I feel a little itch for the straight talk of “I’m the decider and I decide what’s best.”

What do you think? Would any amount of incompetence make you miss George W. Bush? Sound off in the comments.

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