Erasing history

If there were any doubts that the Bush administration still is still intent on invading Iran, this should dispel them.

Mr. Leverett, who had worked at the Central Intelligence Agency and the N.S.C. until 2003, and Ms. Mann, who worked at the State Department and the security council until 2004, said they were sure that political considerations were involved.

“There is no plausible claim that this is confidential stuff,” Mr. Leverett said in an interview. “There’s no detail in these paragraphs that has not already been written about by me and other officials.”

They said the draft article called for a new diplomatic approach to relations with Iran and pointed out that the United States had worked fruitfully with Iran after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and in the Afghanistan conflict in 2002.

The authors said the administration did not want that history emphasized when it is resisting pressure to renew contacts with Iran.

As they did with Iraq, in which Bush repeatedly claimed that Hussein threw weapons ispectors out and refused to let them back in -- both claims patently false -- the administration wants to make sure that only Iranian recalcitrance enters the collective consciousness.