"Cheney was with us. Then he went to AEI and they gave him the truth serum."

David Corn talks to James Baker:

David Corn: Baker on Cheney: AEI Gave Cheney the Kool-Aid: Another green room tale:

This past Sunday, former Secretary of State James Baker... I had the chance to chat... [about his] bipartisan commission investigating what to do in Iraq.... There are no "easy solutions," he said. He noted that the administration had "to admit that big mistakes were made." But he said his commission would... "start with the situation we have today."... Baker said that the group could end up with a report that says "here are the four things you should do."... [H]e said he wants the commission to produce a consensus set of recommendations.... He hardly seemed upbeat.... And he added, "if you can't pacify Baghdad, it's lost."...

He noted that he had raised reservations about the Iraq war the summer before the invasion.... [H]e, the first President Bush, and others in their administration had decided at the end of the first Persian Gulf War not to pursue Saddam Hussein's troops into Baghdad: it would have been a disaster.... And, Baker added, Dick Cheney agreed--at least back then. "Cheney was with us," Baker said. "Then he went to AEI and they gave him the truth serum." Or some other type of serum?

It will be interesting to see how the realists of the Baker-Hamilton commission interact with the non-reality-based, neoconnish war cheerleaders of the Bush administration. Might there end up being a fight for Bush's heart, brain or whatever.... As he was leaving the television studio, I said to Baker, "I truly wish you well and good luck." I never thought I'd say such kind words to the fellow who engineered Bush's manipulative win in Florida in 2000. But bad wars make for strange bedfellows.