"If we stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they would be free to plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations," Bush said.

Jesse is absodamnlutely correct. The empirical evidence is clear: even while terrorists and other insurgents are blowing up Americans and Iraqis in Bush's new quagmire, other terrorists are quite capable of planning and executing attacks elsewhere, including "other free nations". Where is John Kerry on this? He called Bush out on his off-handed "handful of terrorists" remark, but he - or somebody - desperately needs to address this much more important point.

Yeah, the "handful of terrorists" was pure spin, and Kerry was right to bust him on it, but that one is far too easy for Bush to rationalize away (he already has). This version of the flypaper strategy is unquestionably reflective of Bush's actual thoughts on the matter. There can be no question about it. Bush is dangerously and deadly wrong on a central point of the issue that is most central to this election. It's inexcusable, and it's a real reason that Americans should be coming together and uniting to vote him out. Let's hear something from the Kerry team on this asap.

P.S. What atrios said, too. I'll take a (so-called) "flip-flopper" over a damn liar any day.