Figures of speech: first, Bush said two-thirds of al-Qaeda's leaders had been neutralized. Then, magically, it was three-quarters. Both assertions are pure fantasy.(Dispatches)

Greenberg, Karen J.; Holmes, Stephen

ONE OF JOHN KERRY'S STRONGER MOments in the first presidential debate came when he explained that, contrary to what George W. Bush would still have had inattentive viewers believe, Saddam Hussein did not attack the United States. To this cold reminder, Bush snapped back defensively, "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that." He also stumbled embarrassingly into the following boast: "Of course we're after Saddam Hussein--I mean bin Laden. He's isolated. Seventy five percent of his people have been brought to justice."

At the Republican ...