Words of War

Indefatigable Dubya fan Peggy Noonan checks in with advice for the President's State of the Union address. In short, George W. Bush has to give the nation concrete reasons to go to war with Iraq.

Noonan thinks this can only be done if Bush makes a believable claim that Saddam is about to unleash holy Hell on US soil right now. Making this stick is so important, in fact, that if Bush reveals so much detail that some intelligence assets get whacked—Noonan uses the neater "sources compromised" formulation—then "well, that would seem to be a reasonable deal."

Oh. Kay. Let's back up. First, we have a de facto admission that despite a solid year of rhetoric in service of making war on Iraq, the Bush administration has yet to convince the American public that war is the best option.

Further, Noonan says that the only way Bush can get John Q. Driveway—let alone the rest of the world—to follow him to Baghdad is provide evidence that Saddam is an immediate threat to the US of A. In other words, do exactly what all the supposed weak-kneed peace-niks have urged for months and months.

Finally, if some people have to die just so Bush can make a better case, Noonan thinks that is just what a president has to do sometimes.

But how's this for a SOTU theme: We want to take out Saddam because we are tired of looking at him. It is simple, true, and has the considerable virtue of not being deadly.