President Bush and his administration, especially Secretary of State Colin Powell, deserve credit for skillfully and patiently involving the international community in the project to disarm Iraq. So, of course, do Bush's critics, whose efforts compelled the United States to work through the United Nations' inspection process rather than going it alone.

The president has left open the possibility, slim as it may seem, that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government will comply and disarm as required. However, President Bush does not appear to do so with a great deal of conviction. So we may yet find ourselves in Gulf War II in the first half of 2003.