Quote: "We removed Saddam Hussein from power because he was a threat to our security." President Bush.Figure of Speech: pareuresis (pa ROOR eh sis), the overwhelming excuse.
The White House is trying a bold new tactic—telling the truth. "It is true that much of the [pre-war] intelligence turned out to be wrong," the president concedes. In other words, Bush recognizes for the first time that there were no WMD's in Iraq.
But then he throws in a pareuresis, a figure that has two meanings in ancient rhetoric: It's either a great excuse, or a fake one.
Snappy Answer: "Why?"