OK, so Saddam is a bad man and was a bad leader. That's not what the hollering is about.

It's about who we are and who we are becoming. Process is the foundation of a law-based society. Do we want to be a law-based society or a leader-based society?

To look at the outcome after the fact and say, "Oh, this turned out well, so it's all right that the justification we originally had was full of holes" knocks the slats out from under the law. The law recognizes truth in testimony and due diligence in seeking the truth. Not to recognize the central role of decisions based on truth and consent weakens consensual law-based governance enormously. It also strengthens leader-based "do as I say because I know best" government.

If one believes that exercise of power is OK as long as the defined outcome is favorable after the fact, that means that the person with the best thesaurus wins: the better to write the postmortem definitions with, my dear.