In the run-up to the war in Iraq, one of the many justifications for invading Iraq was the recovery of a single POW, an American pilot, who the evil Iraqis had supposedly been holding captive since 1991. Now that looks like another assertion based on faulty intelligence (via Dangerousmeta). Nobody would say that we went to war in order to rescue this pilot, but at this point it’s looking increasingly clear that this was yet another piece of propaganda designed to further inflame the ignorant masses. His status was changed from MIA to captured last October when the administration was marketing the coming war to its utmost. By doing so, they no doubt led the pilot’s family and friends to believe that he had been suffering in an Iraqi prison for 12 years, and that he’d be coming home soon when we invaded. It becomes harder with each passing day to believe that these were innocent or honest mistakes.