Politics: Papal Kiss Off

Ari Fleischer issued the White House beat-down to the Pope today. Responding to the Pope's statement that there is no moral justification for the pre-emptive war in Iraq, Fleischer tortuously laid out how Saddam Hussein (but not, apparently, anybody else with WMDs) could sell those weapons to somebody, which would then be very bad. Finally, Fleischer said, quizzically, "The president does view the use of force as a matter of legality, as a matter of morality and as a matter of protecting the American people."