Mike, you're welcome to believe in an Iraq to Bin Laden link if you like, it's just not a belief that is supported by the evidence. Even in the speech yesterday, Powell backed off the Iraq Terrorism link. There are a lot of reasons for us to oppose Hussein, but his support of terrorist attacks against us isn't one of them. That is propaganda that has been whipped up to build popular support for action against Iraq.

Again, think about it. Terrorists can operate because they are hidden. They do what they do because they aren't targetable for retribution. Iraq isn't hidden. While Hussein hates us, he is neither stupid nor suicidal. He has very different motivations from Bin Laden, and they weren't buddies in the best of times.

Put yourself in Hussein's shoes right now. If he were to sponsor a terrorist act right now, what do you think his assessment of our likely response is? That's right, any overt act of violence on his part would immediately sway world opinion towards a relandscaping Baghdad with 2000 lb shovels.

It would be stupid for Hussein to make himself a target by cooperating with Al Qaeda. He's many things, but stupid doesn't strike me as one of them.

The Al Qaeda threat is separate from the Iraq issue. Al Qaeda is a genuine threat to our security. Bin Laden's boys are willing to die for him, whereas most of the Iraqis would rather not. Iraq is not a threat to us, it is a threat to the other countries in the region, all of whom are at best indifferent allies to the US. Yes, even Israel. And we care about that why? Because of oil prices is the only reason I can come up with. I'm fine with that - we need stable oil prices for the world economy to continue to recover.

Some people will protest, "No, we're against Iraq because he's an evil dictator and uses bad weapons against his own people and the good folks of Iran." Well, so what? Mexico keeps thousands of people in hell hole prisons, hundreds of whom die every year. Africa is littered with corrupt violent dictatorships. North Korea is producing and selling missiles for the third world. We ourselves have more prisoners per capita than any other country in the world. What is it, particularly, about Iraq that makes Hussein the dictator that needs to be taken out today? Answer - political stability in the major oil producing region of the world.

Which I'm fine with. I just don't delude myself that this has anything to do with freedom, security or high moral causes. You shouldn't either.