Bizarroworld

The president of the United States, speaking on March 16:

THE PRESIDENT: "Well, actually I called Silvio Berlusconi on another matter, which may or may not come up during this press conference. It's -- I'll give you a hint. I called him about the World Bank, and -- (laughter) -- and discussed my nominee, and -- but he brought up the issue of Italian troops in Iraq and said, first of all, he wanted me to know that there was no change in his policy, that, in fact, any withdrawals would be done in consultation with allies and would be done depending upon the ability of Iraqis to defend themselves. And I said, are you sure I can say this to the press corps that will be wanting to know what took place in our conversation? He said, absolutely."

Link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050316-3.htm

What Berlusconi actually said on March 15 (link above):

ROME (Reuters) - Leading U.S. ally Italy said on Tuesday it would start withdrawing its soldiers from Iraq in September, in a fresh blow to President Bush's shrinking coalition.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of Bush's most vocal supporters, said he was in talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about a total exit strategy from Iraq, adding people in both countries wanted their troops to return home.

"We will begin to reduce our contingent even before the end of the year, starting in September, in agreement with our allies," said Berlusconi, who faces an election next year and went against public opinion to deploy troops in Iraq.
__________________________________

Does this qualify as an actual lie? After all, Bush didn't say that Italy hadn't changed its policy since last week. And I guess you could argue that withdrawal of Italian troops "would be done in consultation with [their] allies." As long as that means the Italian government will be letting us know the date when their troops leave Iraq.

Tell me again--how does the prez keep getting away with this sort of dishonesty?