Senate report concludes: no proof of contact between

[kandrathe]

Justifications for war don't get much more hypothetical than that. (But it does seem you agree that the Bush Administration's prior and subsequent justification of the invasion of Iraq in terms of WMDs and terrorism was bogus.)

Well, I'm not justifying the war. I'm understanding why it happened, and I'm remembering 10 years of UN hand wringing and a failed sanctions effort by the UN. I'm remembering the UN action of GWI. And if you read what I actually said, I told you what I thought should have happened, rather than what did happen.

Who knows what the middle east would be like today if the US had not invaded Iraq? Who knows if Saddam would even still be in power? (Oops, you know --- sorry, I forgot your gift.;)) I will stick with the history we have, and that is a disaster.

The "gift" is the same one I use playing chess, when I'm analyzing my opponent 10-15 moves ahead. The gift is in thinking of the world of possibilities, and probabilities.

But it is entirely relevant to the incompetence and dishonesty of the current US administration, who should have been tossed out of office long ago. (Do you say to a murderer that, well the victim's dead, so who did it is irrelevant to the current situation?) Not that the damage the Bush administration has already done can be easily fixed at this point, even after they're gone. I don't have any solutions for that. Sorry.

You seem to be seeking to put the Bush administration on trial. In that case, your point of "going after the murderer" would be the very political grand-standing I'm railing against. So, try to impeach Bush if thats what you are on about. While we argue about who knew what, who said what, and who did what, the terrorists are planning and executing their next caper. In my view, the terrorists are the murderers, and Iraq is a time consuming distraction. Also, for the record, I don't like either that Bush is the over zealous cop who doesn't get a warrant (form a real coalition at the UN) and then kicks down the wrong door (goes into Iraq with dubious pretexts). The reality now though (whether we like it or not), is that Iraq has become the terror crack house we accused it of being in 2001 and we still need to do some urban renewal here.