[Mr. Jeeves]

FP: Till this very day, leftist pundits are still arguing that there was no Saddam-terror connection. Could you just very briefly crystallize this matter for our readers, giving a few succinct and concrete facts demonstrating the opposite reality?

Mylroie: With all due respect, it's not something that can be convincingly summarized in a handful of bullet points.

That isn't an acceptable answer. Karl Rove had better find a way to come up with some very brief, simple, irrefutable bullet points or Bush is going to have a lot of trouble with this issue in the fall. The Left has already declared victory because their charges are going unrefuted by the Administration.

[Peach]

I disagree; having read as many books as I can about terrorism and Iraq, the evidence is NOT something that can be listed in a few bullet points. The world is a lot more complicated than that. Savy voters understand that geopolitics are complex and sometimes there is never foolproof evidence, much like a murder case where we don't have actual videotape of the crime, merely circumstantial evidence.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Bush is going to have a lot of trouble with this issue [absence of Saddam-terror connection] in the fall. The Left has already declared victory because their charges are going unrefuted by the Administration.

It is more critical for W to alter the institutional behavior of the agencies. If he could do that by going public with an absolutely convincing Saddam-terror link, he probably would.

It is interesting that, as Dr. Mylroie points out twice, W hasn't followed Reagan's lead of replacing careerists with his own who have drunk the proper Kool-Aid. I think it is W's management style to convert rather than replace. He tries to facilitate conversion by removing their barriers from the truth. Finally, the truth forces the recalcitrant wrong-headers to stop acting institutionally.

[Sean Osborne Lomax]

I beg to differ.

Laurie is absolutely correct, and she is THE Iraq exert here. One would of absolute necessity need to answer with a thousand words or more to properly respond to the question.

If you would like to do your own keyword search to find the Iraq connection to terrorism (NAY, ACTS OF WAR AGAINST THE USA ON OUR SOIL!!!) here's a start:

1.) Abu Nidal
2.) Mohammed Atta
3.) The handwritten July 2001 Memo from the Iraqi
director of al-Mukhabarat at the time, Tahir Abd al-Jalil al-Habbush, to President Saddam Hussein:

Which I quote:

"He (Mohammed Atta) displayed extraordinary effort and showed a firm commitment to lead the team which will be reponsible for attacking the targets we have agreed to destroy."

Mohammed Atta led the the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Case closed imho.

[Lee'sGhost]

"The Left has already declared victory because their charges are going unrefuted by the Administration."

Based on past actions, I'd be willing to bet that Dubya is letting them pile as many eggs into that basket as they can. Why refute it now and cause the dims try and fabricate yet other issues? Let them continue to think they have something until about the end of September and THEN drop the dime.