Oh, OK, now I get it: The Bushies are pursuing a coordinated strategy of dialing down their rhetoric about a Saddam connection to 9/11 -- while continuing to insist that Saddam had links to Al Qaeda in general. Today it's Bush himself. AP reports:

President Bush said Wednesday there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — disputing an idea held by many Americans.

"There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al-Qaida ties," the president said. But he also said, "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Sept. 11" attacks....

I don't know why they've decided that this is the moment to stop defending part of the fairytale, while continuing to defend the rest of it -- but that's what's going on.

(P.S.: I bet Laurie Mylroie is pissed.)