"At least one potential Democratic presidential hopeful remains unconvinced that the United States should invade Iraq. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean yesterday chided President Bush for not adequately explaining why the nation ought to go to war.

Dean said the administration has not offered any evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possesses either biological or atomic weapons; that Bush has not been "forthcoming" as to how long American soldiers might have to remain in a post-Hussein Iraq, to ensure that it doesn't become a haven for terrorists; and that the administration would be making a "terrible mistake" in scaling back its efforts in Afghanistan.

"To simply say someone is 'evil' is not a justification for losing American lives; there are many evil people who run countries in the world," Dean said in a telephone interview.

Dean's opinions place him to the left of most of the Democrats mulling a run for the White House in 2004. So is Dean positioning himself to be the peace candidate in 2004?

"Whether that makes me the peace candidate or not is for others to judge," he said. "I consider myself the common-sense candidate."" (Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post, September 21, 2002).