Let us begin with two quotations. They come from two different United States senators, one
past, one present, but whose style is much the same:

"How can we account for our present situation unless we believe that men high in this
government are concerting to deliver us to disaster? This must be the product of a great
conspiracy on a scale so immense as to dwarf any previous such venture in the history of
man. A conspiracy of infamy so black that, when it is finally exposed, its principles shall be
forever deserving of the malediction of all honest men." — Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy of
Wisconsin, June 14, 1951.

"The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this
administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq
and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions." — Sen. Harry Reid of
Nevada, Nov. 1, 2005, on invoking Senate Rule XXI to go into secret session.
Of course, Sen. Reid wanted to go into secret session. There's something about declaring
anything secret that stirs public interest in a way that letting just anybody in never does.
It's human nature. We want to know anything somebody doesn't want us to know.

* * *

And this latest conspiracy may be the broadest and farthest-reaching of all, since the need
to take action against Saddam Hussein was trumpeted not only by this administration but
also by the last one. And the danger Saddam Hussein's old regime represented was pointed
out not only by George W. Bush and Colin Powell, but in remarkably similar statements
made over time by Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Edwards, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Jay
Rockefeller, Joe Biden, Carl Levin, Hillary Clinton … good Democrats and sinister
conspiracists all. How's that for a conspiracy so immense as to dwarf any other? Joe
McCarthy would've loved it.

To quote a typical example of the kind of oratory this vast conspiracy used to take us to
war: "In the four years since the inspectors left (Iraq), intelligence reports show that
Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his
missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort and
sanctuary to terrorists, including al-Qaida members." — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Oct. 10,
2002.