My advice to John

[Bad Thoughts]

Don't get into a long debate about the reasons to go to war in Iraq. Remember the following:

* If Iraq is not a front in the war on terror, we are in trouble. Al Qaeda is regrouping in other parts of the war while the administration is pouring resources into another area and wasting diplomatic capital.
* If Iraq is a front in the war on terror, we are in trouble. Things are not going well. Nothing has been done to confront the continuous, low valency war that insurgents are conducting, and political stability will not occur until Iraqi's feel secure. And Al Qaeda is still regrouping in other parts of the world.

Finally, we are in trouble. Any way you look at it, the war against al Qaeda is not going anywhere, and the arrest or death of OBL will not now affect the organization.