The correct choice

To some of us there's little doubt Saddam Hussein was, 1) in bed with terrorists well before and now after our invasion, 2) had WMDs, 3) was lying to international inspectors, and 4) was/is receiving help from the international left.

For those that DO have lingering doubts, have you been to Captain's Quarters lately? Venture over and take a gander at some of the things his team has uncovered.

If you're one of the convinced, great, but get ready to answer the following question from the unconvinced, "if that's all true, why isn't Bush shouting it from the highest rooftop?" It's a valid charge.

Perhaps one answer might involve the consequences of such shouting. Time marches forward not backward, therefore spending time and effort trying to convince the Cindy Sheehans and Michael Moores that Saddam had to be removed might not represent the most productive endeavor based on the cost of such actions:

One of the reasons that the DoD may have sat on the captured IIS files without translating or releasing them, some speculate, was that the contents may embarrass some of our allies in the overall war on terror.

Makes sense. It's still the most compelling reason the DOCEX and Harmony docs were put into the public domain and not used by the government to formally point fingers. CQ has the paperwork on the recently-publicized allegation that a Russian mole was planted at Centcom and was pumping info to Baghdad before the war.

Besides, in light of the current American cultural divide the anti-war set simply cannot change its mind--the cost is too great. Bush knows this. He knows the fervor of anti-war protests has not reached critical mass, and he's working with a volunteer army. WMD proliferation is still in play and there are bigger fish to fry.

DR. GERM, I PRESUME 7/8/06

One of the docs analysed at CQ deals with Dr. Rehab Rasheed Taha, AKA Doctor Germ. It's dated 2002 and look pretty incriminating. Yet the Coalition released Dr. Germ (and Mrs. Anthrax) last year. Just let 'em go. There was no swap. And to top it off, Iraq wants them back.

Therefore this recent doc makes her release look all the more puzzling. We surely got something in return for her freedom, but what?

MORE 7/9/06

The left will have a field day with this story. It includes all the morsels that go into making a good Bush bash--secret programs not revealed and former loyal republicans wandering off the reservation.

But look at it this way--in doing so the Times was forced to mention the DOCEX documents and the 500 chemical shells, surely one of the few times to date. And although it probably caused scattered chunk-blowing in the newsroom the mention was tucked onto the second page of a Bush hit piece, thereby taking the sting off. Keller's gotta be careful--Miss Run Amok was fired for talking about that stuff.