War, for or against, is not necessarily the issue that should be focused on here because nobody in the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld inner circle is ever going to be held accountable in any substantive way. It's too big of an issue, too convoluted, too political. I think the most important story here is the history of American-led and sponsored torture throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. At every turn anyone who learns about the sordid details of American involvement in places like Colombia and El Salvador, or East Africa, or Indonesia, or Syria or Iraq runs into not just state sponsored, American facilitated torture but also direct links in every case to people currently in the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld inner circle. In fact, they have just come out and admitted on many occasions that they do currently torture detainees who should be classified as prisoners of war but also they have admitted that they send detainees in their custody to foreign countries for the express purpose of having them tortured. All as a part of the overall conduct of the current war. It is one thing to fight a war. It is an entirely different thing to be a war criminal. Not everybody in war is a war criminal. The reason I say that is this: it is simply a matter of time until a good number of the people in the inner-circle of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld power elite, an elite which has been running the American Military from the Pentagon to the CIA for almost 30 years now, is indicted as war criminals and felonious violators of human rights. The great success of the current war for Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld is that the Bush family together with their cronies have managed to convince ordinary Americans that the private interests of the Bush family are in fact global issues of national security. If Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were to be thrown in jail tomorrow for the widely documented human rights violations they are responsible for, America would win the war on terror once and for all, instantly undermining every single bit of the terrorist's motivating rationale. Why won't that happen? Because we are not a nation of laws. We are a nation run by the Bush family, for the Bush family. They torture prisoners of war. That is against the law. Everybody knows. Nobody does anything. End of story.

I just cannot believe I am reading this trash on Salon. Now we have a jewish cabale that initiated the Iraq war. Unbelievable....If your articles are going to be slanted, count me out of your readership

It's important to understand that the unshaded world of The Right began with the Evil Empire. People forget that most of the intelligence suggested that the Soviet Union was much stronger than it was. Their economy did not function and yet we were told "They are winning, so we have to be stronger."? Was that just a rationale?

By the time the Soviets were installing sick old men, it was pretty clear something was horribly wrong. But, you wouldn't have known it from listening to America's Right. And, of course, Gorbachev came along, tried to reform, and the whole thing just collapsed. If our intelligence (and wisdom) had been greater, we might not have ended up with such an unstable beast as we now see in Putin's Russia. It's hard to do positive things with a people you refer to as 'evil'. We are in the same box with Islam.

Part of fighting the Evil Empire, of course, was building up bin Laden in Afghanistan, because he was fighting the big Double E. We played games with the Iranians to make some sort of point about Central America. Was our understanding of Communism good enough to form a reasonable policy? Some things just have to play out? Did we not believe in Capitalism, in Freedom, in Faith? Objectively, Communism was doomed. We still seem to be the only thing holding up Castro. The real threat is that China has learned to be Capitalist. Why isn't the focus there? Where were, where are, the real returns in Iraq?

The Right loves to say that Reagan brought down the Soviet Union. I think the Poles who were putting their lives on the line deserve most of the credit. When all is said and done, whatever the Iraqis salvage from their mess should be credited to them. The Right seems to like to take credit for everything good that happens in the world. I'd just like to see a better America, personally.

Juan Cole's obsession with Israel mars what would otherwise be an interesting analysis of the Vice President's den of vipers. The lack of balance in Salon's middle east coverage, where anti-Israel authors are the only voice allowed, is the reason I don't join up.

All of Mr. Cole's many anti-Israel errors would be too many to list here, though I recommend he read a real history book which will show him that Israel conquered the West bank in a defensive war, and not limit himself to only reviewing Pro-Arab Blogs. Any analysis of the war that does not include Sy Hersh's discussion of the Iranian manipulation (through their tool Chalabi) behind America's mistaken involvement in the Iraqi civil war, shows his very weak scholarship. I guess that Mr. Cole's obsession with hating Israel and replacing it with the 22nd Arab dictatorship (Palestine) has skewed his vision, he would rather blame Israel than get to the roots of the problem.

Salon should replace him or offer a more balanced view.

Why isn't anyone saying the "I" word?

Even if they have managed to shelter Bush from true involvement in this scenario can't Cheney be impeached?

An excellent analysis by the always brilliant Juan Cole. He had me until the very last paragraph:

"With the war in Iraq a disaster, possible indictments looming and polls showing that 80 percent of Americans believe that revealing Plame's identity was either illegal or unethical, those dreams of world domination have crumbled to dust. "

Does Cole really think PNAC is dead? What about the current activity of the US and allies in the Security Council to impose sanctions on Syria for the death of the Lebonese Prime Minister? While the assassination should surely not go unpunished, it is also obvious that US-Syrian relations are growing chillier, and the US policy toward Syria has been directed at regime change for some time now.

I don't believe that the Bush administration has yet changed course in its plans for Iran or Syria as a result of the current scandals or public opinion.