It looks like there’s no substance to the allegation that Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda were working together. I don’t think the case for going to war against Iraq rests on this link, but certainly when the government was initially trying to generate support for invading Iraq last year, suggested connections to al Qaeda were a big part of their argument. To me, the argument for war hinges on one variable — the overall cost in lives of the various actions that are available to us. If invading Iraq tomorrow would save lives (not just lives of Americans, but lives overall), then I’d be all for it. My personal beliefs don’t allow me to accept that killing 100,000 Iraqis is OK if it saves 100 lives of Americans (for example). Obviously, I don’t want to die nor do I want any of my loved ones to die, but by the same token, I imagine that’s the case for most people in Iraq as well.