OVER THE COURSE of the last few months, every respectable argument against war in Iraq has fallen apart. In December the peaceniks insisted that inspections would work; even Hans Blix now admits that they have not. In January the peaceniks insisted that the United States was acting unilaterally; then a group of European nations stepped shoulder-to-shoulder with America and the ranks of support have since swelled. In February the peaceniks insisted that Saddam Hussein wasn’t dangerous; reporting by Jeffrey Goldberg (here and here) and Stephen Hayes has now thoroughly disproved that notion. Earlier this month the peaceniks insisted that war in Iraq would distract us from the pursuit of al Qaeda; then Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured. Today the peaceniks rail against President Bush’s “rush to war;” but 18 months after September 11, the president is still chasing a diplomatic solution.

As the antiwar left has lost argument after argument, simple anti-Americanism has become its lodestar. At rallies across the globe protestors ignored Saddam, yet compared Bush to Hitler. At a march in La Habra, California, protestors destroyed a September 11 memorial, ripping and burning flags and flowers. Commenting on the February death of a CIA officer in Afghanistan, a correspondent for one prominent antiwar website wrote, “Ok, only two CIA agents dead, but its something. With so much bad news in the headlines its nice to read some good news like this every once and awhile [sic].”