Brief comments on items currently in the news . . .

If you believe President Bush’s severest critics, he lied about his reasons for going into Iraq — notably that Saddam Hussein had any involvement with either terrorism or al-Qaida. Now “Saddam and Terrorism,” a report based on the study of 600,000 captured items from Saddam’s regime, shows unequivocally that Saddam had close ties to al-Qaida and was up to his keister in promoting terror.

Switch to Iran. The president said recently: “(Iran’s leaders) have declared they want to have a nuclear weapon to destroy people — some in the Middle East. That’s unacceptable to the United States, and it’s unacceptable to the world.” Whereupon Bush’s critics went off — insisting Bush is lying yet again because Iran’s leaders stress they want uranium enrichment for solely peaceful purposes. But Bush likely is right in this, too. Iran has just announced a tripling of its uranium-enriching centrifuges — from 3,000, with an ultimate goal of 54,000. Funny thing, but without enriched uranium, a nuclear weapon cannot be built.

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The head of the International Olympic Committee has condemned Olympic torch protests of the Communist Chinese regime’s repression in Tibet. Further, he has said the IOC will punish any athletes participating in such protests — or even displaying their feelings.

So kindly consider air pollution in Beijing, where the Olympics will open come August: Boasting some of the planet’s filthiest air, Beijing has particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and sulfur and nitrogen dioxide readings often five times World Health Organization safety levels. Even the IOC has announced it will delay endurance events lasting more than an hour if it deems pollution levels too high. Question: Will the IOC hammer athletes who make their sentiments known about Chinese air pollution that could diminish their performance and harm their health?

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say that despite this recession they want to lift the Bush tax cuts. That puts them right over there with Herbert Hoover, who reversed Calvin Coolidge’s tax cuts — thereby turning the recession of the hour into . . . the Depression.

Speaking of Bill’s fair and fading wife Hillary, at a Big Labor gathering in Philadelphia the other day — responding to appeals that she exit the Democratic presidential nomination race — she invoked the town’s fictional boxing hero: “Could you imagine if Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum steps and said, ‘Well, I guess that’s about far enough’? Let me tell you something. When it comes to finishing the fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up.” Bad choice: Rocky lost, and three months ago the actor who played “Rocky” — Sylvester Stallone — endorsed John McCain.

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McCain was one of the few senators making sense during this month’s Senate appearance of Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Said McCain: “American (troops) continue to risk everything, (BEGIN ITALICS) everything, (END ITALICS) to accomplish their mission on our behalf. With the untold costs of their failure, and the benefits offered by success, the Congress must not choose to lose.” Continued...