Reasonable minds can and should differ on the justification for conducting a pre-emptive war against Iraq without the support of the United Nations. But what is unreasonable to excuse and tolerate is the fact that the asserted justification - that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction - was untrue.

No matter what the reason for this erroneous allegation, it cannot be easily dismissed as minor and insignificant. And, ultimately it is on the President's desk where the buck musst stop.

I doubt that anyone here would prefer to see Saddam Hussein return to power. I suspect even the most strident anti-war advocates here are happy to see him gone. But its disappointing to see so many people here so willing to ignore the fact that the leader of the free world intentionally or unintentionally misled us all.