Having run through a series of rationales for the Iraq war that would have daunted a less arrogant man, George Bush finally settled on a real keeper in the fifth year of the Forever War: It was necessary in order to bring down the very terrorists who launched the 9/11 attacks.

While it took some time to debunk the earlier rationales, this one was an instant classic, a whopper so big and transparently false that it beggared belief.

This, of course, was because the Al Qaeda insurgents who have bedeviled the star-crossed American occupation were a product of the occupation itself and had only a tangential connection to Osama bin Laden and the men who flew jetliners into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a farm field in Western Pennsylvania.

But we can thank the president for one thing: The phony connection between Al Qaeda in Iraq and 9/11 invites another and one that I offer with circumspection as we slouch into the sixth year of the war.

What Bin Laden was not able to do on that fateful morning and in the years since, Bush has done for him in some respects.

At first glance, that statement may seem shockingly inapt until you consider:

* Bush’s ability to play on America’s fears far better than The Bearded One ever could.

* Bush’s penchant for divisive politics has further exacerbated social divides in America.

* Bush’s pathalogical inability to level with Americans has further undermined their faith in goverment.

* Bush’s economic policies have exacerbated troubling long-term economic trends and helped plunge America into recession.

* Bush’s war has further destabilized arguably the most volatile region in the world.

* And Bush’s actions, including advocating torture and casting aside international treaties and conventions, have brought great shame on America.

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