George W. Bush, the world’s most introspective man, was asked by the Washington Post what he made of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s concerted strategic decision to embrace Barack Obama’s withdrawal strategy and thereby demolish his legacy as president. Via Greg Sargent at TPM, here’s what the soon-to-be-disgraced-ex-president said:

"I talk to him all the time, and that’s not what I heard," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post aboard Air Force One on the start of a trip to Asia. "I heard a man who wants to work with the United States to come up with a rational way to have the United States withdraw combat troops depending upon conditions on the ground, that’s all."

Right, I mean, come on, it’s not like Bush is given to self-deception, right? He acknowledges uncomfortable truths, acts accordingly, and in his wake we find only decency and justice.