AWOL 'MAJOR'

Dana Milbank of The Washington Post takes a look at pieces of history the Bush administration has been editing for various reasons, including wiggle room.

Of course we've all heard how on May 1 Bush declared an "end to major combat operations" in Iraq. Thing is, the phrase itself was doctored after the fact.

Milbank writes: "After the insurrection in Iraq proved more stubborn than expected, the White House edited the original headline on its Web site of President Bush's May 1 speech, 'President Bush Announces Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended,' to insert the word 'Major' before combat. "

The bigger whopper is an official's estimate that the rebuilding of Iraq would cost a now-seemingly paltry $1.7 billion, also erased and obfuscated from official web sites.