Return of the Stenographer

Bob Woodward is about to publish a new book, Plan of Attack, that argues George W. Bush planned the Iraq war less than two months after the Afghanistan invasion. However, the prez dissembled:

"I knew what would happen if people thought we were developing a potential war plan for Iraq,'" Bush is quoted as telling Woodward. "It was such a high-stakes moment and … it would look like that I was anxious to go to war. And I'm not anxious to go to war."

Is that news? Maybe, but London's The Observer had a story not long ago (anticipating a Vanity Fair piece) that suggested Bush had Iraq on his mind right after 9/11.