[Torie]

That is a bit too Byzantine for me. Buckley is saying that given what he knows now, he would have opposed taking Saddam out. I take Buckley at his word, and that he means what he says. I disagree and profoundly, for the reasons I stated. Buckley and I weight the competing considerations differently, and thus, unsurprisingly, come out with different judgment calls. Such is life.

[NutCrackerBoy]

[Regarding previous post by NutCrackerBoy] That is a bit too Byzantine for me. Buckley is saying ...

Torie, I agree with you. I did not mean to say Buckley made his statement for that reason. "That reason" being giving cover - making it OK for conservatives to say the Iraq war would not have been worth it, or some such.

I believe, whatever he meant, he was sincere. I meant that these "pronouncements" - as someone here has been calling them - by Will and Buckley could come to a good effect. I really think we should tone down the rhetoric. Out there in the campaign, the election must not come down to whether folks become convinced that Saddam had WMDs and conspired with al Qaeda. Even though I think those things, this election can be won without convincing all of the electorate of them.