By now the drill is comfortably familiar: Centcom announces find of suspected Iraqi WMD site -- or leaks it to Fox News. Story bounces around in the media echo chamber for a day or two, until Centcom quietly spreads the word that the tests have come back negative.
The latest false pregnancy was Monday's discovery of "mobile biological weapons labs" (i.e. RVs of mass destruction) outside Karbala. Now that one, too, has failed to make the little piece of paper turn blue.
But is it too paranoid to suspect that this constant repetition of false claims has already had its intended effect? After weeks of hearing about "suspected" WMD finds, how many Americans realize that not one of them has actually panned out?
I'd love to see someone do a poll:
Q: Based on what you've read or seen on TV, do you know if coalition forces have found biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in Iraq?
A: Yes
B: No
C: Don't know.
What kind of response do you think they'd get?
Maybe they should add a fourth choice:
D. Whatever President Bush says is fine by me.