In case you've not seen it, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is charging that W was planning for an Iraqi invasion months before 9/11, not too long after taking office. Some of this is coming out in a book, while there'll also be a 60 Minutes piece. The White House is downplaying things, mostly painting it as publicity seeking and as O'Neill trying to push his own belief and opinions.

On some level, this sort of planning makes sense and happens regularly. What would make me more concerned would be if there was a plan to invade from the beginning, and that 9/11 became a handy excuse. Not only does that cheapen our 9/11 response, but it suggests a level of duplicity that I'd prefer not to have in elected officials (which, I know, is asking for a lot, regardless of party).

Having this drop right before the primaries get under way is also interesting timing, but perhaps not so interesting as if this were late August.