Peter Baker writes in the WaPo [no links to Washington Post ever until Fred Hiatt resigns in disgrace]

President Bush dismissed [Monday] talk of military action against Iran as "wild speculation" and emphasized that his doctrine of preempting threats does not necessarily mean the United States has to use force to stop other countries from developing weapons of mass destruction.

Bush did not deny reports that his administration has studied airstrikes as an option if Iran does not agree to abandon its alleged nuclear-weapon development program. He said he still considers the country part of an "axis of evil." But he emphasized that he wants to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Tehran and played down his policy of reserving the right to launch first strikes against potential enemies.

Note to future historians: he’s lying. Again. This is the same fertilizer he shoveled out of the White House ever since January 20, 2001. He lied about Iraq. He lied about Social Security. He lied about Medicare. He lies. It's what he does best. A cynical man would say he learned it from his mother's milk.

Answering a wide range of questions, Bush also said he declassified a version of an intelligence report in 2003 to address public doubts about why he went to war in Iraq. "I wanted people to see the truth and thought it made sense for people to see the truth," he said. "And that's why I declassified the document."

Note to future historians: He’s lying. More fertilizer. He did not declassify the document. The official story (the first lie) is that he declassified parts of it in order to enable Mr Cheney to instruct Mr Libby to attack Mr Wilson’s credibility by uncloaking his wife’s employment at the CIA where she worked as a covert operative investigating Iran’s search for nuclear weaponry. This is now the backup lie; the second position, because the first lie lasted no more than 24 hours. It has already been revealed that the actual, official declassification happened after the fact.

But he did not address whether he authorized then-White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to secretly disclose disputed allegations in the National Intelligence Estimate to a New York Times reporter 10 days before the report was released to the public. Libby, who faces perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges, has testified that Bush gave him permission through Vice President Cheney to provide the information to the reporter.

Note to future historians: He’s lying. He never told Mr Cheney, "It’s all right to tell Libby to smear this guy." Most likely it happened something like history tells us about King Henry II of England, complaining about Thomas Becket. Henry is reported to have cried out, “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” because Becket would not agree to Henry’s plan to try priests in a secular court of law for crimes. Mr Bush did not address the issue of Libby’s disclosing disputed issues in the NIE because THAT would show he lied to Congress by falsely stating that Iraq had pursued yellowcake uranium ore from Niger, which was a prime reason for Mr Bush’s illegal attack on that helpless country. Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution requires the President to make reports to Congress on the state of the union. There are Constitutional scholars who maintain that lying to Congress in a State of the Union speech would be an actionable crime, since it is specifically delineated in the Constitution. This is a line even George Bush dare not cross in his mendacity.