The real news out of Dr. David Kay's report on the investigation into weapons of mass destruction programs in Iraq is being brushed under the carpet by most politicians and pundits because it doesn't suit their arguments. That news: that scientists were running a con on Saddam to get money from him for programs they had no intention of taking to completion.

Kay says the evidence suggests the following scenario: Saddam had basically eliminated any power those underneath him had to vett new programs, and was personally handing out the money to scientists that came to him with cockamamie schemes. They took the money (in Iraq's crumbling economy) and ran with it. While documents and official notices, on the surface, indicated massive biological, chemical and nuclear weapons development programs, none of them was actually doing anything.

The CIA and other intelligence agencies failed to detect the fraud, just as Saddam did. They placed the most dire meaning on any evidence they found. Bush, looking for an excuse to go to war, found it in the evidence he was handed, and like Saddam took the information at face value.

But, in fact, there was no threat. The Saddam government was falling apart at the seams because of internal corruption and the growing delusions of Saddam. He was a nut with what he thought was a gun, but was in fact a bar of soap. There's room for blame all around on this one.

So now, can we finish up with the finger-pointing and figure out how to get out of this mess?

A friend overseas wondered to me recently why Americans don't seem to be more upset by the war in Iraq and Bush's various other exercises in adventurism. I have a theory on that, but it will require some research to back it up.

My guess: that the war has not yet touched anybody's wallet noticeably enough (or at least more than the general recession has) to get them upset about it. This has been, for most Americans, a sacrifice-free war; only those in the military or called up for active duty by the National Guard or the Reserve (and their families) have been directly affected thus far (and the Guardsmen and reservists' families have been the ones who've had to deal with the worst financial impact, as breadwinners have taken big pay cuts for mandatory active service).

This is the “Guns Plus Butter” plan of the Bush administration: minimize the financial impact of the war now, by borrowing to the hilt while interest rates are low and inflation is dead; finance the war while cutting taxes on those who complain the loudest; leave the financial rubble for some other administration to clean up.

The Onion: “I can think of no better way to win opposing Iraqi hearts and minds than by showing them some opposing Iraqis' actual hearts and minds.”

Iraqis Begin to Accept Hussein Deaths [AP World News]

Bush Refuses to Declassify Saudi Section of Report [New York Times: International News]

Sharon Tells Bush Israel Won't Halt Its Fence Project [New York Times: International News]

Uday and Qusay get their final photo op. Only those with a strong stomach should click that link.