Will Terror Alert Level Show Its True Colors?

Q. "My son has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and I understand the CIA will send him a letter of congratulations upon request?"

A. "We regret we are unable to process and provide certificates of congratulations to the fine young Americans who have become Eagle Scouts. We have curtailed some activities in order for us to concentrate on the War on Terrorism.

"Please be assured we will resume the practice when we are able to do so."

Could be awhile.

Close Enough?

One of President Bush's best moments in his debates with Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) came in response to allegations that not enough troops were sent to Iraq.

"I remember sitting in the White House looking at those generals, saying: 'Do you have what you need in this war? Do you have what it takes?' " Bush said. "I remember going down to the basement of the White House the day we committed our troops, as a last resort, looking at [Gen.] Tommy Franks and the generals on the ground, asking them: Do we have the right plan with the right troop level? And they looked me in the eye and said, 'Yes, sir, Mr. President.' "

But our colleague Bob Woodward's best-selling book "Plan of Attack" recounts a meeting on Iraq in October 2002 that went somewhat differently.

Defense Secretary Donald H. " Rumsfeld wanted the chiefs to meet only with the president, without General Franks," Woodward writes. "The president asked the four service chiefs for their honest opinion. What did they think of the plan? Could each service do what was asked of it? . . . Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki was the first to say that he was worried that the size of the attacking ground force might be too small. . . . He wondered if the supply system was agile and quick enough. . . . The army would be strung out over several hundred kilometers. Maintaining the supply lines could be difficult. Still, Shinseki said he supported the plan."

Well, that sounds kinda like longhand for "Yes, sir, Mr. President."