[Miss Marple]

Go right ahead down the path you have chosen. As I said, you are quite free to do so, even if it is unwise.

Grasping at an impolitic comment from Kristol, apparently exaggerated by Newsmax, isn't really the best foundation for your argument, but do go right ahead.

You are asking us all to believe that the intelligence services of many nations, including those not friendly to us such as Germany and France, along with their governments, actively engaged in a conspiracy, without one leak ,prior to the war. If so, this was an amazing exercise of American power, dwarfing the Iraqi invasion by a long shot.

Go right out there on that limb, billbears. President Bush already has a chainsaw.

[billbears]

You are asking us all to believe that the intelligence services of many nations, including those not friendly to us such as Germany and France, along with their governments, actively engaged in a conspiracy, without one leak ,prior to the war

And you're asking us to deny the statements of our own intelligence (CIA) just to support the logic forwarded by the President. Never mind the fact that British intelligence is now in question as well

[hchutch]

Kristol's not even calling an intentional lie.

It seems to me he said that they may have erred on the side of the worst-case scenario, and they proceeded to decide their policy AND made their case on that assumption. Now, the worst-case scenario did not turn out to be the case.

And he is right that we haev a lot of paleo-cons and leftists saying that Bush has cried "wolf." But I see too many indictations of active programs. We don't have the final product, but the mobile labs, the chemical weapons suits, the injectors we found tell me there's SOMETHING they were taking steps to protect their troops from.

I get the impression that it wasn't infant formula.