We nodded in agreement all the way through Frank Rich's The Waco Road to Baghdad in today's New York Times.

Here's a sample:

"The White House keeps saying that no decision has been made about Iraq, but of course a decision has been made. Richard Perle, an administration Iraq hawk, gave away the game in yesterday's Times: "The failure to take on Saddam after what the president said" would lead to "a collapse of confidence." Translation: If Mr. Bush doesn't get rid of Saddam after all this saber rattling, he will look like the biggest wimp since -- well, his father. "

"Democrats, as timid in challenging Mr. Bush on Iraq as they were in letting his tax cut through Congress, keep calling for a "debate." What world are they living in? Mr. Bush is no sooner going to abandon his pursuit of Saddam than his crusade to eliminate the estate tax. These are his only core beliefs. "

"The questions left to be debated now are who's going to pay for the war, who's going to be killed in it, who's going to police what could be a decade-long cleanup. (So far the answer to all three seems to be first and foremost: the go-it-alone Americans.)"

" The loudest voices asking these questions are almost exclusively Republican: Brent Scowcroft, Chuck Hagel, Henry Kissinger, even Dick Armey. "