Good news, strivers-for-peace: the issues that the White House presented as valid reasons for invading Iraq are now moot. Seven months after the Commander-in-Chief announced a U.S. victory, his chief of staff, Andy Card, speaking on CNN's Late Edition, suggested the public forget all about those never-substantiated claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the fact the Bush administration presented false information.

"I think it's a moot point," Card said, adding, "The good news is that Saddam is no longer a threat to his own people." As to charges that Hussein's weapons programs posed an immediate threat, Card said he was only sure of one thing: "His intent was not very good."

Card also dismissed accusations from Newt Gingrich that operations in post-war Iraq had gone "off a cliff," with attacks continuing on coalition forces and more of the nation's soldiers coming home in body bags.

"Newt Gingrich is not all-knowing," Card defended.

» Scott Saxon