Of all the rationales George Bush has offered for going to war with Iraq, only one has proved persuasive to a majority of Americans. That is the need to prevent an unpredictable and power-mad Saddam Hussein from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The Bush Administration has been harping on that threat since Nov. 20, when a New York Times poll found that 54% of those questioned agreed that stopping Saddam from joining the nuclear club was a valid reason for offensive military action. Protecting U.S. oil supplies, by contrast, was judged a sufficient cause for resorting to force by only 31%. The President...