On the side in our kitchen we have a calendar of George W. Bushisms, given to us by my mother-in-law: peel off a daily howler from the mouth of the not-so-great man. Often they’re a bit fussy, hanging on his inability to distinguish between complicated words like "commensurate" and "commiserate" when it’s quite clear what he means; but today’s  is a true lantern-jawed knockout punch in its – what is it? Is it mendacity, or stupidity, or sleepwalking? "See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction."

This was said more than six months after the attack on Iraq began. And more than fifty-eight years after Hiroshima.