1115.org

(1)
You better believe that Bush is seriously into believing. At his press conference today:

I believe we can succeed in Iraq, and I know we must.
[...]
Those of us who believe the battle in Iraq can and must be won see the satisfactory performance on several of the security benchmarks as a cause for optimism.
[...]
I firmly believe the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power.
[...]
I believe we can succeed and I believe we are making security progress that will enable the political tract to succeed, as well.
[...]
I believe that he understands that there needs to be serious reconciliation, a need to get law passed; firmly believe that.
[...]
As I say, this is the beginning stages of what I believe is a ideological conflict that — where you’ve got competing visions about what the world ought to be like
[...]
As you’ve heard me say before, I believe — strongly believe — that freedom is a universal value; that freedom isn’t just for Americans, or Methodists, that freedom is universal in its application.
[...]
I firmly believe that you’ll see the democracy movement continue to advance throughout the Middle East if the United States doesn’t become isolationist.
[...]
And I believe we can achieve that objective. And not only do I believe we can achieve, I know we’ve got to achieve the objective, so we will have done our duty.
[...]
I believe, however, that when they really think about the consequences if we were to precipitously withdraw, they begin to say to themselves, maybe we ought to win this, maybe we ought to have a stable Iraq.
[...]
My most important job is to help secure this country, and therefore, the decisions in Iraq are all aimed at helping do that job. And that’s what I firmly believe.

(2)
That was him. He not only believes, but he believes whatever he wants to believe. (Or is it what he wants you to believe he believes?)

Anyway, it’s our turn now. Read on, and decide what you want to believe.

International Herald Tribune:

In an astonishing heist, guards at a bank here made off with more than a quarter-billion dollars on Wednesday, according to an official at the Interior Ministry.

The robbery, of $282 million from the Dar Es Salaam bank, a private financial institution, raised more questions than it answered, and officials were tight-lipped about the crime. The local police said two guards engineered the robbery, but an official at the Interior Ministry said three guards were involved.

Both confirmed that the stolen money was in American dollars, not Iraqi dinars. It was unclear why the bank had that much money on hand in dollars, or how the robbers managed to move such a large amount without being detected.

Several officials speculated that the robbers had connections to the militias, because it would be difficult for them to move without being searched through many checkpoints in Baghdad.

This version of the incident also appears in Star and Stripes, which is “a daily newspaper published for the U.S. military, DoD civilians, contractors, and their families.” Although they do also show the seeds of what seems to have very quickly grown into the version that MSNBC now carries.

Star and Stripes‘ seed:

Another report, unconfirmed by government officials, said the robbers also made off with some $150,000 worth of Iraqi currency.

MSNBC’s full-grown magic beanstalk:

London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, which owns a 70 percent stake in Dar Es Salaam bank, said on Wednesday that less than $1 million in cash was stolen in a raid on a Dar Es Salaam branch in Baghdad.

Earlier, Iraqi police and a bank official in Baghdad said thieves had stolen nearly $300 million in cash from the bank in Karrada, a key commercial district in Baghdad.

An HSBC spokesman in London said the amount was “significantly less than $1 million.” The bulk of the stolen money was in dollars with some in Iraqi dinars, he said. “The incident did involve an armed gang and the detailed circumstances are still being investigated,” the spokesman said.

The Interior Ministry official told NBC News that $366,000 in U.S. dollars and 282 million Iraqi dinars (about $225,000, at the official exchange rate) were taken from the bank. “We realize that the news agencies have reported that $300 million were stolen, but in fact we’ve spoken to the Bank Managers today and after an investigation they realized that the numbers were not those reported,” the official said.

One thing is clear — the bank people changed their story. Does that necessarily mean they are now telling the truth? Or is it just that there is no way the bank and/or the Iraqi government and/or the Bush-Cheney combine are prepared to make it clear “why the bank had that much money on hand in dollars”?

Funny, isn’t it, what speculations perfectly reasonable people — like you and I, for instance — are willing to engage in, once the clowns who are running things in Iraq have lost all claim to credibility?

Some pertinent facts, by the way, for those interested in such things:
• According to google, the IHT story appeared on the internets at 8 pm Central on Wednesday, July 11.
• That would be almost 24 hours after the theft was discovered, when employees arrived for work on Wednesday morning.
• It is, therefore, hard to put the IHT report down to the initial confusion prevailing in the fog of robbery.
• The new and improved version seems to have been disseminated some time between 11 am and 2 pm Central on Thursday, July 12.

Bush told us what he believes. If you’d like to also, we’re all ears.