I watched that entire presentation and a repeat of it, and I don't remember him saying that. Here's the problem: the existence of those training camps is common knowledge, and yet no one seems to know how they know it. The self-defense argument for the invasion rests on a lot of common knowledge that no one seems able or willing to corroborate.

When Wolf (I think it was Wolf) first mentioned this, I searched every major news site I could think of on the word "Qaeda" and found nothing about such training sites. Then Wolf obliged me by posting a link to a report from Human Rights Watch that he said showed evidence of links between Hussein and Al Qaeda. That's all well and good, except that if you read the report, it says the exact opposite: that as far as they can tell, there is no convincing evidence to support that allegation. So all I'm asking for here is attribution. We just mounted the largest non-nuclear air assault in history with the claim that it was done to protect America from an armed threat. From the start, I've been asking where the evidence is. And consistently, people point me to things that don't prove what they claim they do.

Yes, I'm glad to see Saddam Hussein out of power, but -- again -- a country founded on the rule of law must not use an ends-justifies-the-means vigilante approach to world politics. For one thing, making other countries hate us is bad for national security. For another thing, it's just plain arrogant and wrong.

Besides, will the Iraqi people be better off under their next ruler? When the U.S. engages in foreign government-building, we have an annoying tendency to put into power people like -- well, like Saddam Hussein, for instance.

There are many things the U.S. does extremely well, and of which we can be justifiably proud. Stabilizing foreign governments is not one of them. We have a long history of backing leaders not because they will be good for the people over whom we place them, but because they hate our military enemies or will grant favorable terms to American corporations. That's not a matter of propaganda: our record speaks for itself. Granted, the mistakes of past administrations are not George W.'s fault, but our track record on this sort of thing is appalling. I'd like to believe that this time will be different.