I agree with Kendall. If Gore were President, or if 9/11 had happened a couple of years earlier while Clinton was still in office, the difference in response would have been negligible. In such a situation, any President is going to ultimately do what his advisors advise and what the public demands. The perception of Republicans as hawks and Democrats as doves is BS. It made no difference which party was in power during Vietnam, and it wouldn't make any difference today.

On the other hand, Dubya's obsession with Iraq is a personal issue and only peripherally related to 9/11. If Gore had won the election, I don't think we would have to be dealing with that issue. Unfortunately, success in Afghanistan has reinforced Dubya's cowboy mentality and he's lookin' for another Indian to shoot. Fortunately, his advisors now seem to be telling him to cool it. American public opinion may be in favor of attacking Saddam, but World opinion is definitely not. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

Bruce