The sticking point seems to be what constitutes a threat; and whether Bush hyped the threat of Iraq.

Afghanistan was a pretty clear choice of targets. Al Qaeda really was there, and the Taliban really was providing aid and comfort. Few people could argue with the clarity and narrow focus of that military effort. We had support, and we got organized and went in within a couple of months of 9/11.

Iraq is quite a contrast. Bush had to beat the drums of war for a year, and failed to convince key parties who had no problem with Afghanistan. He had to escalate his rhetoric, and come up with stronger and stronger allegations as time went on. If he had a compelling case, why didn't he make it in February 2002?

Where Afghanistan was a clear expression of resolve, I can't help but feel that Iraq was simply an expression of fear. We seem to have attacked it simply to be attacking somebody, to exorcize some 9/11 demons by shedding some Arab blood. And that doesn't communicate strength, it communicates fear. I wonder sometimes if the message we're sending might be that terrorism works--Americans are scared to death of another terrorist attack, and can be stampeded into supporting a war on a flimsy pretext.

Here's another dark thought to disturb your sleep: Terrorists know that we intercept their communications. Might they have figured out that it's far more cost-effective to pretend to talk about upcoming attacks on cheap disposable cell phones, or anonymous email accounts, than to actualy mount an attack? Our fear has given them a lever: Ridge obligingly raises the alert color, troops and police are deployed, access to public places is restricted, travel is impeded. False alarms aren't "flashy", but a steady stream of them can wear us down with the steady drip, drip, drip of anxiety and inconvenience and small hits to the economy and to our liberties.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself"...can you ever imagine Bush saying something like that? No? Me either. To put it bluntly, Bush benefits politically from fear. He got his war with Iraq with a relentless message of fear, and he may well be reelected out of fear. None of the Democratic candidates so far is offering a message of the high road to lift us out of this squalid quagmire of fear.