“If history’s judgment is that the war was positively related to the fact that there was no attack on America after 9/11, then history’s judgment of the commander in chief will be much less severe than today’s unhinged critics of him can imagine. Furthermore, some, and perhaps many, Americans probably are alive today because persons conspiring to commit mass murder were thwarted by the president’s ferocious focus after 9/11.”—George F. Will

The scene: Dick Cheney walks into the Oval Office to find President Bush banging a couple of sticks together.

DC: “Mr. President, why are you banging those sticks together?”

GWB: “I heard that banging a couple of sticks together keeps the terrorists away.”

DC: (Without a trace of irony) “But, George, there are no terrorists here in the White House.”

GWB: “See, it’s working!”

DC: “George, if you really want to keep terrorists away, you should start a war with Iraq. That will show them how big, powerful, and nearly invulnerable the U.S.A. is.”

GWB: “Wow, really? What else?”

DC: “Well, we can put the names of all the terrorists on a list, and we can give that list to people at airports. That way the people at the airports can know the names of all these bad guys and stop them from getting on planes.”

GWB: “How will the people at the airports with the list know the names of the people trying to get on the planes?”

DC: “They’ll ask them their names.”

GWB: “I don’t know, Dick. What if they lie about their names.”

DC: “Terrorist bad guys are too dumb to lie. Only good guys like us are smart enough to lie.”