David Kay, who just a short time ago was confident they would be found, now says there is no evidence weapons of mass destruction existed other than in Saddam Hussein's mind and his regime posed no imminent threat to the U.S.

The media and the public expresses shock at the realization the Bush administration did lead us to war on false pretenses and the effort is now being made to shift the blame to the intelligence community.

Well, it would appear the Republicans (and maybe the public at large) share Mr. Bush's antipathy for reading - not only does the man say he doesn't read, he brags about it as though it were a virtue.

The New Yorker (and other eminent publications) revealed months ago that the whole WMD theory reposed on shaky ground and there was even evidence that the CIA and other agencies were providing the Prez with the information he wanted to hear and not the facts.

No one would deny the world is better without Saddam. But, in truth, one must also recognize that the war against him was an exercise in hypocrisy.

This petty tyrant came to power and was armed in the first place by the U.S., the Brits, the French, the Russians and others who first used him as a foil against Iran and then double-crossed him. And, he's not the first tyrant our government helped put in power.

I've heard the argument that Saddam was an evil man who gassed the Kurds and slaughtered the Shia when they revolted at the end of the first Gulf War. True enough. What is not stressed by those voicing this lament is that Daddy Bush refused to permit interference in both instances.

As this situation continues to unravel, perhaps the public will start to examine a little more closely some of the other facets of this administration.

While I'm on this rant, I might add I'm a little sick of all the assinine charges about Gov. Dean not being presidential, lacking foreign experience and behaving badly at the end of the Iowa caucus.

Do people really think Dubya has presidential stature? A man who never faced combat himself (in fact was AWOL for nearly the last year of his hitch in the Guard) and has no loved ones in harms way, having the arrogance to tell the enemy to "bring it on." And, what foreign experience did he have when he came to office?

As to Iowa, I truly believe Dean was simply expressing passion for what lay ahead and trying to inspire his team to keep on with it.

Dean's not my choice. I'm for Kerry all the way. But, I'll support any one of the Democrats over Bush and Cheney.