[MMMMMM]

Andy, I agree that the die was probably cast aforehand, and that it might not have much mattered what was in those reports.

My overall take of the grander picture is twofold:

1) that the U.S. government employed a fair bit of "spin" in making the case for invasion, yet probably without actually engaging in substantial lying or the fabricating of evidence

2) that Saddam obfuscated, delayed, cheated, denied, kicked and screamed, dug in his heels for many years, all the while being as obstreporous as possible--as he systematically went about torturing, maiming, raping, killing, and generally doing great evils to the Iraqi populace on grand scale. So, if he got a bit of short shrift at the end, well, I'll just have to say, better late than never.

This is one case where I think the the removal of the regime would justify more even than mere spin. My empathies are with the long-brutalized Iraqi people, and I think that their fate and future matters far more than whether or not we are above employing a bit of spin on the public stage.