"We will be in Baghdad at the end of March"

First, there was the Downing Street Memo.

Now comes another exposé from Spanish newspaper El Pais revealing Bush's plan to invade Iraq to then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar:

El Pais, the highest-circulation daily in Spain, today published what it said was the transcript of a private talk between President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22, 2003, concerning the coming U.S. invasion of Iraq. It took place at the ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The conversation took place on the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The confidential transcript was prepared by Spain's ambassador to the United States, Javier Ruperez, the paper said.

Bush purportedly said he planned to invade Iraq in March "if there was a United Nations Security Council resolution or not....We have to get rid of Saddam. We will be in Baghdad at the end of March."

Further confirmation that Bush lied when he said he was still hoping to avoid war.

The European Tribune provides the Spanish transcript as well as a more thorough English translation.

Among the interesting tidbits: a short blurb from Condoleeza Rice, where she discounted Hans Blix's report even before it was presented to the U.N.

And then there's this, where Bush's messianic complex rears its ugly head:

Aznar:The only thing which worries me about you is your optimism.

Bush: I am optimistic because I think I am right. I am at peace with myself. It is our lot to face up to a serious threat against peace.

This same sense of greatness led him to say things that can't be farther from the truth now:

We will decimate the loyal troops and the regular army will quickly know what it's all about...We expect to occupy those wells soon. The Saudis would also help us bring the oil to market if necessary. We are developing a very strong package of humanitarian aid. We can win without destruction. We are already planning the post-Saddam Iraq, and I believe that is a good basis for a better future. Iraq has a good bureaucracy and a relatively strong civil society. It could be organized into a federation...

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