...Powell would have gone ahead and ignored the protesters. But his boss's handlers know that the negative media coverage will significantly detract from the GOP convention spin and call attention to the unpopularity of the U.S. all over the world for its invasion of Iraq.

On top of that, expect the Iraqi soccer team to register their disapproval of Mr. Bush for ignoring their requests to remove references to them in his campaign ads.

It was going to be ugly from a public relations standpoint - something an election race this close could not afford. The "victory" for the protesters is that they have demonstrated to the world just how vulnerable the Bush presidency is.

In the meantime, the Bush death count in Iraq has hit 972. 972 American soldiers have died in Iraq in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist.