Asked Monday about former Treasury secretary Paul H. O’Neill’s allegation that the administration was preparing to attack Iraq from its first days in office, President Bush told reporters that “we were dealing with Desert Badger or flyovers and fly-betweens and looks, and we were fashioning policy along those lines.”

Huh?

Desert Badger? This led to some head scratching around town. A Nexis search reveals no public mention of a recent operation called Desert Badger, although there are references to the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

Could this have been a code name for badgering Saddam to surrender? Not that we gave him the opportunity…